Risk Assessment and Life Cycle Approach to Optimize the Sustainability Performance of Leather Products

The use of chemicals in tanning companies represents a relevant risk for the health and safety (HS) of workers, and risk assessment (RA) is essential for companies to adopt preventive and protective measures to reduce the risks. At the same time, from a market perspective, companies are increasingly interested in demonstrating their sustainability through environmental impact reduction: the life cycle (LC) approach permits the consistent quantification of the environmental footprint of products. Generally, RA and LC are not integrated by companies. The research aims to define an ad hoc methodology that integrates LC and RA for the quantification of HS risks related to processes and products. The methodology is tested in assessing the performances of two leather products realized by an Italian company through identification and evaluation of HS risks associated with LC steps of production. The results demonstrate that the integrated use of RA and LC is effective both to punctually know the HS risks associated with production activities and to compare the performances of different products in terms of the dangerousness of substances and processes used.