Overview

The Facility self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) on Chemical Management Intensity (Facility SAQ-CM) is an environmental survey tool available in RBA-Online for RBA members to assess how their facilities and supplier facilities are implementing leading standards and best practices on responsible chemical management at the operational level. Intensity, in this context, refers to how and to what extent a facility is implementing their chemical management strategy, policies, and management systems.

The Facility SAQ-CM is designed to be deployed to and completed by management teams at the facility-level. At the corporate-level, companies may use the Facility SAQ-CM as a screening-level assessment tool to help evaluate and prioritize chemical management risks among their facilities and supplier facilities. The Facility SAQ-CM evaluates chemical management intensity at the facility-level across several dimensions, including:

• Chemical management policies that govern manufacturing operations
• Management accountability and responsibility mechanisms
• Worker engagement on development and implementation of chemical management practices
• Hazard assessment of chemical products used for products sold
• Management and compliance with requirements on manufacturing restricted substances
• Collection and management of chemical ingredient information from chemical product suppliers
• Chemical footprint measurement, goal setting, and ongoing management
• Exploration of safer alternatives for chemical products containing substances of concern

To access the Facility SAQ-CM, please refer to the RBA Knowledge Base guidance article ‘How to Access the Environmental Survey in RBA-Online’.

Background

The Facility SAQ-CM was developed based on the CFP 2025 Manufacturing Survey portion of the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) Survey, developed and maintained by the Clean Production Action (CPA). Since the Facility SAQ-CM's question structure, scoring rubric, and evidence documentation requirements are closely aligned with the CFP Survey, facilities may draw upon their companies' existing CFP Survey responses and using the Facility SAQ-CM helps position companies on partaking in the full CFP Survey.

The Facility SAQ-CM serves as a supporting resource for companies participating in the Catalyst pathway of the RBA's Chemical Management Leadership Program (CMLP) to implement Action 3.1 (A3.1) on conducting screening facility assessments to help identify supply chain facilities with relatively higher chemical management risks. The Participation in the full CFP Survey is also an acceptable means for implementing CMLP A3.1. The Facility SAQ-CM also serves as a supporting resource for companies participating in the CMLP Catalyst pathway to implement A6.2 on health and safety committees and A6.3 on grievance mechanisms at supply chain facilities.