Definition and Meaning of Environment - Assignment Example

Definition and Meaning of Environment 1. It is deemed important to protect the environment because we will be what environment would be. If our environment deteriorates then we would perish as well because we are sustained by nature. Fresh air, water and food give rise to healthy human and animal population. Hence, environment is not only a moral obligation but also a law to sustain in a broader perspective. It is not only for animals or plant kingdom, but our own sustenance man could think of protecting nature. A society is made of people and without environment there are no people, business or future. So the environment is the foundation for the human sustenance and growth and we need to protect it at all costs. According to ( Beggs,2012) “The regulation of practices that affect the environment has been a relatively recent development in the United States, but it is a good example of government intervention in the economy for a social purpose”. 2. Risk controls can be categorized to three types mainly; prevention, detection and correction. In this type of risk control there are controls to prevent the harm and loss from occurring. Like authorizing people in an organisation with different tasks and having specific experts for hazard management can avoid problems. In detection, activities are monitored to identify risky behaviours and actions. In corrective type, the controls are made to restore the system or process to a normal position like as in state prior to harmful event. Factors leading to hazard can be unrefined authority, inappropriate hiring system, unhygienic atmosphere and unplanned management. For example, if the employee having less professional knowledge on hazard management , handling hazardous materials can bring forth lot of mishap, accidents, conflicts and chaos. 3.The nine classes of hazardous material by D.O.T are 1) Explosives 2) Gases 3) Flammable and combustible liquid 4) Flammable solid ,spontaneously combustible and dangerous when wet 5)Oxidizer and Organic Peroxide 6) Poison and Poison Inhalation Hazard 7)Radioactive 8)Corrosive 9) Miscellaneous. One of the news articles which research on acid has been detailed to understand its nature and hazardous effect. This article title “Rise of Acid Ocean eats away base of food chain” explains about the effect of acidic content in ocean on its marine life. As per (Connor,2014 ) “Rising amounts of carbon dioxide dissolving in the ocean is causing the acid corrosion of tiny sea creatures that form the base of the marine food chain, scientists have discovered”. We can see that acid changes the ph balance of water and make it more acidic and kill the living beings as marine life need a specific water ph level to survive. This ocean acidification is caused by the increase carbon di – oxide in the atmosphere. For example the tiny snails and shell fish living on ocean surface layers has corrosion on shells. This acid erosion is due to less alkaline water. This means the food chain in the marine zone is affected as lack od such minute beings can lead to disruption in eco – system. 4. Isopropyl alcohol is a flammable liquid and hazardous material and can cause fire if spilled near industrial area. When truck is getting unloaded the isopropyl alcohol is spilled which means it would have been spread outside atmosphere where the temperature is 68 digress. Having a flash point of 53 degrees it obviously can cause ignition with little stimulation. With a welding operation running nearby there is a high chance of fire as lot of heat produced around that area as they deal with open flame. Same in case of machinery pieces because these machines get heated while working and can cause many hazardous incidents like fire and burns. According to ( Highland,2013) “The ease with which isopropyl alcohol combusts makes it a dangerous substance that could result in severe or fatal burns to anyone affected by an explosion”. 5. Respiratory hazards can be due to air borne contaminants which are biological contaminants like fumes, gases, mists, dusts or oxygen deficient atmosphere. Five types of respiratory hazards are 1) Dust, fumes and mist 2) Gases and vapours 3) Combination of particulates and Gases 4) Oxygen deficient atmospheres 5) Thermal conditions. Two of them can be described which is one; Dust, Mist or fumes then 2) Gases and vapours. a) Dust, Fumes and Mist -Dust can be from anything like sand, rock or wood. These smaller particles can enter the respiratory organ and can create allergy, suffocation and breathing problems. The dust contamination can be seen in construction sites and wood industries. Fumes can come from metal, plastic when burned or heated and can drift in air. They are generated during welding operation and potentially when there is high temperature in surroundings. Mists are tiny droplets of liquid created while spraying operation likely from aerosols and can be by products. These can be seen in flight journeys and industrial sites. b) Gases and Vapours – Gases are airborne produced at room temperature and vapours are gaseous form of solid or liquid which is evaporating. This can be seen in kitchens, industrial sites and hotel industry. 6. Supplied air respirator is used where air purifying respirators cannot give enough protection to people. These can be tight fitting half face or full face respirators, loose fitting hoods, helmets. Air purifying respirator is gas masks or respiratory masks which protect people from respiratory hazards. They both have its advantage and disadvantages as supplied air respirators give added protects which air purifying respites fails to provide. Supplied air respirators are not limited to the quantity as to which an individual can carry. Also they are light weighted and simple devices. However, the limitation can be that it can be used only in situation where the wearer can escape with light movements. This can pinch off or severed on harsh movements. The air purifier respirator gives good protection against toxic environment and the protection quality depends upon the efficiency of the device. According to (CCOHS,2012 ) “Air-purifying respirators can remove contaminants in the air that you breathe by filtering out particulates (e.g., dusts, metal fumes, mists,etc)” However, it is not efficient against oxygen deficient environment. One should ask what kind of protection it gives and what hazards it is not compatible with. Also the efficiency and filter type need to checked before buying. 7. Many places in a work environment are considered as confined places as they are not designed for people but they enter to perform certain tasks. Two types of confined space death can be caused due to suffocation and falling. In case of toxic gases from some confined areas, workers can die or have injuries. Even they can fall and hurt themselves in many cased due to many industrial equipments. Mostly, electricians and plumbers can succumb to such hazards. 8. Air monitoring is done in order to scrutinize the contamination in the air and to prevent hazardous waste from site. Air sample report and hot spot reporting is necessary to prevent hazards. Site characteristic need to be considered and then the proper instruments need to be used to find the exact hazard cause and also its concentration should be identifies. Also the oxygen meter and carbon di – oxide meter must be used to understand the oxygen content in the atmosphere. As per (Sullivan,2011 ) “There are two basic ways to use outdoor air monitoring (OAM) in a building: direct measurement of incoming outdoor air and monitoring CO2 levels in spaces within the building”. 9. Incidence response system is a kind of emergency management system which is a guideline on chemical hazards for reducing the scope of harm and is a preventive measure with more immediate effect. It is extremely important for an incidence response system to exist in an organisation as it is a preventive measure which can reduce the calamity in case material hazards. And my employment does have an incidence response system and it has a number of professionals like disaster managers, technical experts and other devices like warning systems to alert them to revert calamities. 10. One of the recent hazard disaster is the calamity occurred in Syria where poisonous liquid sarin was utilized on people as a part of political conflict. Many people were killed and being a condition of hazard it needs proper measures on regulation to contain the event. The regulation or procedures in case of sarin which is a highly evaporating poisonous liquid is specific as it is extremely potent. It is not easy to revert the effect of sarin and people need to be given antidote as quickly as possible which was done to a small extend. Unfortunately, thousands of people died because sarin was used heavily and people were dying quick. Another procedure is to evacuate people from the poisonous surrounding and this could were not done because it was an unpredicted event and only people could do was run or move away from the site.Lastly, People should remove their clothes quickly as because the liquid can add to the toxicity on patient. None of these were done in the situation even though some who were lightly affected were given antidote and saved. References Beggs, J. (2013). Protecting the Environment. In http://economics.about.com/od/governmentt heeconom y/a/environment.htm. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://economics.about.com/ od/governmenttheeconomy/a/environment.htm CCOHS, . (2012). Respirator Selection. In http://www.ccohs.ca. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php Connor, S. (2014). Rise of acid ocean eats away base of food chain. In http://www.independent.co.uk. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/rise-of-acid-ocean-eats-away-base-of-food-chain-8348892.html Highland, J. (2013). Health Risks When Using Isopropyl Alcohol. In http://webcache.googleusercont ent.com/search?q=cache:8qCDcyynnu4J:www.livestrong.com. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8 qCDcyynnu4J:www.livestrong.com/a rticle/123197-health-risks-using-isopropyl-alcohol/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in Sullivan, . (2011). Outside Air Monitoring: Controlling the Thin Line . In http://www.buildings.com. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/13258/title/-outside-air-monitoring-controlling-the-thin-line.asp Read More