In this case I would say that you are not comprehending what is meant by the term "environment".
In the case of forklift seating, the term environment means:
An operator mounts and dismounts the truck numerous time in a daily work shift or tour of duty.
Driving/operating a lift truck is not the same as driving a long haul road truck, or even a piece of construction equipment.
Driving a long haul truck or construction equipment usually entails climbing aboard and sitting down in the seat, and then remaining seated until break time or other stopping point.
Driving a lift truck usually means you climb on and get seated, move a bit of freight, then dismount to scan bills or check something else about the loading/unloading/stacking process, check with a supervisor, etc, etc, etc.
The fact that your thoughts (when seeing the term "environment") went straight to other definitions demonstrates that you are clearly engineer material, for keeping seat quality at "status quo". That was intended to be slightly humorous, but with a grain of reality in it.
The longest lasting, most durable seat covering I have encountered turns out to be cloth fabric, not vinyl.
Wise (brand) has a seat called either Durawear or Duraweave (not sure which is correct) that is cloth and we have seen some of those seats go 20,000 hours without busting open.
Michigan Seating also has a cloth covered seat called Modura that lasts longer than a Michigan seat with vinyl covering.
The Michigan Modura has not matched the longevity of the Wise Durawear in our fleet.
But......replacement seat cushions are available for the Michigan Modura (and vinyl as well) whereas the Wise product must be replaced as a "seat assembly" when cushions are worn/torn.