Environmental Risk Assessment

The environment is our surroundings. It is out earth, our yard, our community, our town, our county, and our state. It is our surroundings and we must protect it. We have to take care of this region that envelopes us, so the inhabitants are taken care of properly. A risk that relates to our environment is considered to be any threat, which may harm said area. Understanding how this protection works is important.

The EPA thinks that a risk is the possibility of harmful effects and results to humans and animals in the their area. An oil spill could be a risk because it could harm people, water supplies, land, plants, and many animals. The risk is often referred to as a stressor. This stressor can be biological, chemical, human, or physical. This stressor is a risk when it causes an adverse result or response. Simply polluting could be an environmental risk.

An assessment of a risk is when the damage or potential damage is evaluated. This evaluation is a precise and scientific process of steps. There are two different risk categories of assessment: ecological and human health. Once a risk is determined to be true, a decision on how to handle that risk has to be made.

The means of how to protect people, animals, and land will be considered in the management plan. If there were a hazardous waste spill, the cleanup, as well as treatment would be major concerns. Once the process moves through these two steps, a plan for eliminating future disasters of the same kind will be developed. A plan for the future might be how to handle, store, and use such hazardous chemicals in the future to make sure the spill does not happen again. People have to be trained in how to properly handle materials that may possibly be a risk to the environment.

Obviously our environment matters to us and to the future. The role of risk management plays a part in its protection. Information must be gathered, people must be educated, procedures and measures must be developed and implemented, and action must be taken if the environment is compromised or damaged. Everyone must work together to protect our earth and its inhabitants. Some damage cannot be reversed, so it is in everyone’s advantage that this protection is taken quite seriously and our people and places are always carefully watched.