Social LCA databases

ArcelorMittal performed a case study intended to evaluate the two social lifecycle assessment databases currently available on the market: Social Hotspot Database (SHDB) and Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSIA) database.

Intro
Over the years ArcelorMittal has developed expertise and knowledge on environmental life cycle assessments. As part of the sustainability journey, ArcelorMittal has explored social value of steel and is developing experience in the field of social life cycle assessments. During the phase 6 of the Roundtable, ArcelorMittal performed a case study intended to evaluate the two social life cycle assessment databases currently available on the market: Social Hotspot Database (SHDB) and Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSIA) database. The main goal of the case study was to gain experience and develop working knowledge of the two databases. The intent was to develop an illustrative example that could be used to transfer the lessons learned to wider
audience within ArcelorMittal, thus raising awareness within the company and initiating discussions.

For the study, SHDB 2016 and PSILCA version 2 were used in OpenLCA software. Since then, SHDB 2018 has been released (May 2019). We looked at a broader number of stakeholder groups than the ones presented in the Handbook 2018 in order to fully explore the features and capabilities of both databases. The databases enable practitioners to assess social risks associated with 4 stakeholder groups – workers, local community, society and value chain actors – and across a wide number of social issues.