Industrial safety helmet
We delivered a full cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment for a UK manufacturer of industrial safety helmets, giving the client a holistic view of impacts across their product portfolio and identifying the hotspots that will drive their next round of material decisions.
- ISO 14040
- ISO 14044
Scope: Cradle-to-grave · Functional unit: One helmet providing impact protection over its rated service life
← All case studiesModules declared
Cradle-to-grave LCA. Module D captures the benefit beyond the system boundary of recovering and recycling the helmet's shell and metal components at end of life, a credit that rewards designing for recyclability.
Product (A1–A3)
- A1
- A2
- A3
Construction (A4–A5)
- A4
- A5
Use (B1–B7)
- B1
- B2
- B3
- B4
- B5
- B6
- B7
End of life (C1–C4)
- C1
- C2
- C3
- C4
Beyond (D)
- D
How the assessment flows
Trace the life cycle to follow each declared stage in turn, or focus any stage to see the modules and components it covers. Greyed stages are not declared in this study.
- A1
- A2
- A3
Raw materials & manufacturing
- A4
Transport to site
Declared in this study.
- A5
Construction process
- B1
Use stage
Declared in this study.
- C1
- C2
- C3
- C4
End of life
Declared in this study.
- D
Beyond the boundary
The challenge
The manufacturer wanted a defensible, portfolio-wide view of where the environmental impact of their helmets actually sat, to inform material choices and respond credibly to customer and tender questions, rather than relying on supplier claims.
Our approach
We modelled the helmet from raw materials through manufacturing, distribution, use and end of life, building the inventory on primary production data where available and recognised background datasets elsewhere. Every assumption was documented so the results would withstand external review.
The outcome
The client received a clear hotspot analysis showing which components and life-cycle stages dominate impact, giving them an evidence base for material substitution and for the product-level disclosures their customers increasingly request.
How it was done
- ISO 14040
- ISO 14044
- ServiceLCA
- ScopeCradle-to-grave
- Functional unitOne helmet providing impact protection over its rated service life
- Software & dataSimaPro with the Ecoinvent database
- StandardISO 14040 and ISO 14044
- Programme operatorNot applicable
Need an LCA like this?
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- Phone
- 020 8058 9253