Future Challenges for Environment Health and Safety

 

Environmental pollutants can cause health problems like respiratory diseases, heart disease, and some types of cancer. People with low incomes are more likely to live in polluted areas and have unsafe drinking water. Meanwhile, children and pregnant women are at even higher risk of pollution-related health problems.

More than 12 million people around the world die every year because they live or work in unhealthy environments. Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing people's exposure to harmful pollutants in air, water, soil, food, and materials in homes and workplaces.

According to a report by Astute Analytica, the global Environmental Health and Safety Market will register a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of more than 9% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031.

Challenges Around Environmental Health & Safety

·   Fewer Resources: Resources will be less; schedules will compress and the organizational bar for performance will be higher. This is all good as it presents an opportunity to innovate, streamline, and find ways to collaborate, educate, empower, and excel in the art and science of tactical SMS implementation.

·   Shortage of qualified safety professionals: 2018 and beyond will experience an increase in the shortage of qualified safety professionals. Those in the field today will become more valuable and those considering this line of work might find it a ripe time to enter. With a growing regulatory burden, a 10% attrition rate, and most importantly a concerted focus by companies to improve their workplace safety programs, the future appears to be bright for EHS professionals.

·   Regulatory Uncertainty: It means that it will be difficult to adopt any new protections through regulations at the federal level. There is a real concern that reduced government attention and oversight will lead to reduced safety and health efforts by some employers, deterioration of protective programs and measures at the workplace, and increased injuries, illnesses, and deaths.

Closing Note

Rapid urbanization, combined with rapid improvement in standards of living is stretching natural resources and threatening environmental quality in many countries. Population density has reached unprecedented levels in most parts of the high, medium, and low-income world. The urban population in 2014 was 54 % of the total global population, up from 30 % in 1950, and is projected to account for around 66 % of the global population by 2050.

 

Urban areas are facing a range of environmental health challenges including contamination of air, water, and soil. Sprawling urban areas contribute to traffic congestion, with associated air pollution, noise, and long commuting times affecting public health and productivity across the world.

  

The range of risks and opportunities for urban environmental health explored in this special issue clearly demonstrates the complexity of the challenge cities are facing in the 21^st century in the context of climate, land use, and demographic change.

As the planet becomes increasingly urbanized, pressure on natural resources (air, water, soil), urban infrastructure (housing and transport), and health care systems increases, but so does our capacity to address risks through technological innovation, international cooperation, and participatory decision-making at the city level.