Initiative
Roundtable for Product Social Metrics

The Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment

The Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment proposes a practical methodology for organizations to assess the social impacts of products. It was developed to make it more practical and feasible for organizations to conduct product social impact assessment, using a consistent method and making efficient use of human and financial resources. By supporting the assessment of social performance, this handbook aims to enable organizations to achieve greater insight into the social impacts of their products.

Using the handbook

The Handbook answers the important questions sustainability professionals have, including:

• Why should I apply Product Social Impact Assessment?

• What are possible social impact risks that I need to mitigate?

• How can I balance social compliance, social responsibility, and product development?

• How do I execute a Product Social Impact Assessment and quantify social impacts?

• How do I interpret the results of a Product Social Impact Assessment to help my business become more sustainable?

The Methodology

The methodology can be applied in numerous scenarios, from understanding improvement opportunities and steering product development in different stages to providing support for decision making and external communications. It also allows reasoned assessment of overall performance by including social topics and performance indicators that reflect positive and negative impacts of the product on three stakeholder groups: workers, consumers and local communities.

Its annexes provide in-depth details about the methodology, and background information about the handbook and its development process, supporting the Roundtable’s aim to achieve broader consensus and credibility.

Download the Handbook

The Handbook is available now for download by sustainability professionals who want to use this pragmatic approach to improving social sustainability. The Handbook gives the necessary framework, and the members of the Roundtable are available to provide guidance for conducting assessments in specific situations.

Contents of the Handbook

Handbook

• 1. Introduction

• 2. Impact assessment method

• 3. Social topics and performance indicators

• 4. Pilots

• 5. Current limitations and opportunities for future development

Annexes

• Annex 1: The handbook development process

• Annex 2: Product level social sustainability assessment

• Annex 3: Development of the guiding principles

• Annex 4: Development of the impact assessment method

• Annex 5: Process to define materiality

• Annex 6: Allocation

• Annex 7: Data collection and data quality

• Annex 8: Weighting

• Annex 9: Selection of social topics

• Annex 10: Definitions of social topics

• Annex 11: Selection of performance indicators

Download the handbook (excl. annexes) Download the handbook (incl. annexes)

PRé Sustainability Stationsplein 121, 3818 LE Amersfoort The Netherlands Phone +31 (0)33 455 50 22 www.pre-sustainability.com

Roundtable for Product Social Metrics

Even though the evolution of sustainability metrics and methodology has advanced significantly over the past decade, social sustainability at product level was still relatively immature. Complex issues had not been addressed sufficiently. Triggered by these practical shortcomings, a group of experts from large companies decided to join forces, initiating the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics.

This collaboration resulted in the development of the Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment, building on the participant companies’ approach and existing standards at global level. While developing the handbook, the participants also engaged with external stakeholders who helped improve the handbook at different levels of collaboration. The results of the first two phases of the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics are documented in the version of the handbook available for download on this website.

The members

BASF BMW Group L’Oréal Reckitt Benckiser DSM Goodyear AkzoNobel Ahold Marks & Spencer Philips Steelcase Chemical Company

Facilitator

PRé Sustainability