Why the Environment Matters at Work
What "the environment" means on a work site and why every job has an effect on it.
8 min
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The environment is everything around your workplace: the air, the water in rivers and under the ground, the soil, the plants and animals, and the people who live nearby. It also includes the natural resources your work uses, such as energy, water and raw materials.
Every job affects the environment in some way. A driver burns fuel. An office uses electricity and paper. A workshop produces used oil and scrap metal. A cleaner pours wash-water into a sink. Most of these effects are small. But they happen every day, on every site, so together they become large.
Four reasons it matters
Pollution can kill fish, damage soil, harm wildlife and make people ill. Some damage takes years to repair, and some cannot be repaired at all.
Two everyday examples
A vehicle depot. A mechanic changes the oil in a van and leaves the old oil in an open tray in the yard. Rain fills the tray overnight. The oil floats over the edge and runs to a drain. By morning there is a rainbow film on the stream behind the depot.
An office building. Lights, computers and air conditioning stay on all weekend in empty rooms. Nobody sees any pollution, but the building burns fuel at the power station for no purpose and the electricity bill rises.
Which of these is part of "the environment" around a workplace?
Think about your own job
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