Risk assessment tool methodology Briefing note for Radar users - Version 1.2, June 2020
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Risk assessment tool methodology Briefing note for Radar users Version 1.2, June 2020
Version 1.2, June 2020
Sedex risk assessment tool methodology briefing note
This briefing note details the methodology used to produce risk scores within Radar, the Sedex risk
assessment tool. Users may also find our Frequently asked questions (FAQs), Radar Guidance, and
Guide to risk assessment in supply chains documents helpful.
About Radar
Radar is an online tool designed to help Sedex members globally to identify key and relative labour,
human rights, governance and environmental risks across their business and supply chains. It does
this by combining inherent country and industry sector risk information with the data collected from
members within the Sedex platform. Sedex members can use the information available in Radar to
help identify and ultimately mitigate risk by engaging with the sites within their own business
operations and supply chains that are most likely to be exposed to labour, human rights,
governance and environmental risks.
Acknowledgments
Radar and the risk assessment methodology was developed by Anthesis, with support 1 from Ergon
Associates and Dr. Alexandra Channer. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the
Sedex members and AACs who contributed to our Project Advisory Group.
1 Disclaimer: While other organisations and individuals have supported the development process, the final outputs,
methodology and functionality of Radar are the responsibility of Sedex and Anthesis.
2Version 1.2, June 2020
About Anthesis
Anthesis seeks to make a significant contribution to a world which is more resilient and productive,
by working with cities, companies, and other organisations to drive sustainable performance.
Anthesis develops financially driven sustainability strategies, underpinned by technical expertise
and delivered by innovative collaborative teams across the world.
Their services include risk assessments and financial due diligence, supply chain mapping,
responsible procurement policies and strategy development, supplier engagement, assurance and
verification, sustainable packaging and plastics and ICT tools for sustainability.
Anthesis works across industries as varied as food and drink, agriculture, financial services,
packaging, chemicals, and clothing and apparel. They bring together 500+ experts operating in 40
countries around the world with offices in the UK, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden,
Finland, the USA, Canada, China, South America, the Philippines and the Middle East.
www.anthesisgroup.com
About Ergon Associates
Ergon is a specialist consultancy in the field of labour and human rights, gender, employment and
development. It undertakes strategic consultancy, diagnostic analysis, risk assessment s, policy
research and training for a diverse range of clients including international companies, international
organisations, development finance institutions (DFIs), and multi-stakeholder initiatives.
www.ergonassociates.net
About Dr. Alexandra Channer
Alex is a consultant in labour and human rights, with a background in political communications. She
specialises in risk assessments, analysis and research, and regularly delivers anti-slavery training for
UK businesses. Alex’s clients include companies, international organisations, multi-stakeholder
initiatives and certification schemes.
www.alexandrachanner.co.uk
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Contents
1. Inherent risk ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Country risk ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Sector weights................................................................................................................................................................8
1.3 Combined inherent risk scores.........................................................................................................................10
2. Site characteristics scores ......................................................................................................................................................11
2.1 Site characteristic scores ......................................................................................................................................11
3. Combined risk scores........................................................................................................................................................... 12
4. Topic risk indicators................................................................................................................................................................ 12
5. Vulnerable workers................................................................................................................................................................ 13
6. Management Controls ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
7. Limitations ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
8. Supplementary documents ............................................................................................................................................16
Appendix 1: Country Indicators by topic........................................................................................................................ 17
Appendix 2 – Sectors...................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Primary production – ISIC codes ..................................................................................................................................... 22
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1. Inherent risk
Inherent Risk Scores, produced on a scale of 0-10, where 10 is high risk, are a combination of
Country, Sector and ‘High Risk Goods’ scores.
1.1 Country risk
The country risk indicators are drawn from publicly available sources. They are chosen according to
the following attributes:
• Coverage – they must cover the majority of the countries and include coverage for each
region;
• Reliability – they must be from reliable sources;
• Comparability – the numbers for each country must be generated in a comparable way;
• Relevance – they must be relevant to the Sedex risk topics (i.e. ETI base code clauses,
Business Ethics and the Environment).
Assignment
Indicators are assigned to the relevant risk topic (e.g. working hours, regular employment etc.). See
Appendix 1 for the list of indicators used.
Normalising
The original indicators are on a variety of scales. The indicators are therefore normalised on a 1 to 6
scale, 6 being high risk. For each individual indicator the following process is followed:
• The indicator is inverted if needed so that a high score is high risk;
• The scores are re-scaled to a 1 to 6 scale, maintaining the original distribution.
Custom indicators
Where there were no suitable indicators to address a particular topic, custom indicators were
produced based on data sources that met the selection criteria above. See Appendix 1 for more
details.
Forced Labour Index
There were no public indicators that adequately covered the risk of forced labour in supply chains
so Sedex commissioned Ergon Associates to develop a Forced Labour Index.
The Forced Labour Index provides an assessment of forced labour risks for four broad economic
sectors (agriculture, food processing, manufacturing and logistics) for each country in the overall
risk assessment tool. The final assessment has two components: a country context risk score based
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on third party data sources and a sector-specific score based on focused desk research. See the
Forced labour index methodology briefing note.
Filling Gaps
While all indicators have good coverage, there are some indicators that do not cover all countries.
Values are generated for these missing countries as follows:
• Countries are grouped geographically using the UN geographic regions
• The average (arithmetic mean) value for the country group is calculated
• The average is assigned to the countries with missing scores
Summary of topics
The risk scores cover topics derived from the Sedex / SMETA clauses. These are organised by
overarching pillar.
Topic Description Country risks
Pillar: Labour standards & rights
Wages Wages to meet a workers' basic living Does the country have a minimum wage, is
needs and provide some discretionary it above the poverty line and is it
income. Workers should be provided enforced? What percentage of the
written information about their wages population lives below the poverty line?
before entering employment and each
time they are paid.
Children & There shall be no new recruitment of child Does the legal framework adequately
young Workers labour, children should be enabled to protect children and does the state have
attend and remain in quality education. the capacity to enforce it? How prevalent
No children or young persons under 18 and serious are adverse impacts and
shall be employed at night or in infringements in the country?
hazardous conditions.
Forced labour Workers should work voluntarily and Where countries receive migrants, do they
without threat of penalty of any kind. come through high-risk recruitment
Debt-bondage, indentured labour and channels? How well is the rule of law
the use of prison labour are all forms of enforced? What is the overall level of
forced labour. poverty? How large is the informal
workforce? How vulnerable are minorities?
What anti-trafficking measures are in
place?
Regular Regular employment means that all What proportion of those in employment
employment workers are provided with a legally receive wages or salaries?
recognised employment relationship and
that every effort is made to ensure that
employment is continuous, and that
employers obligations shall not be
avoided through use of alternative
contracting arrangements.
Gender Workers should face no distinction, To what extent are there gender
exclusion or preference based on their inequalities in reproductive health,
gender. Despite progress over the last empowerment, and economic status?
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century, women remain What disparities are there in labour force
disproportionately exposed to the most participation and pay? Does the law
vulnerable situations in a workforce. mandate equal remuneration, non-
discrimination? Does the government
support child-care and maternity leave?
Can a woman pursue similar jobs to men?
Discrimination Workers should face no distinction, To what extent are minorities accepted in
exclusion or preference based on a a country? Are individuals free to practice
personal or physical characteristic which and express their beliefs? Do laws, policies,
deprives a person access to equal and practices guarantee equal
opportunity or treatment in any area of treatment?
employment. Excludes gender-based
discrimination (covered by the Gender
topic).
Freedom of Freedom of Association means allowing How much equality of opportunity and
association and workers to form and join trade unions, freedom from economic exploitation is
collective worker associations and worker councils there? Are trade unions recognised and
bargaining or committees of their own choosing. The active? How cooperative are labour-
purpose is to have good two-way employer relations?
communication between management
and workers.
Working hours Working hours must meet legal What are average hours worked in the
requirements and comply with collective country?
agreements to provide workers sufficient
rest periods and include at least one day
off each week on average. Working hours
in any 7-day period should not exceed 60
hours unless in exceptional circumstances.
Pillar: Health & safety
Health, safety & Workers should be provided a working To what extent are regulatory mechanisms
hygiene environment safe from hazards, and in place to protect workers? How
measures are in place to prevent prevalent are workplace injuries?
accidents and injury whilst at work.
Workers receive regular recorded health
and safety training and have access to
clean and safe facilities and
accommodation, where provided.
Pillar: Business Ethics
Business Ethics The Business Ethics index demonstrates the How common is bribery of public
prevalence of ethical business institutions by firms?
management, for the benefit of workers.
Pillar: Environment
Energy & Energy and emissions tracks vulnerability How large are a nation’s emissions of
emissions to the physical and transitional risks climate-forcing gases and particles?
associated with climate change.
Biodiversity Biodiversity tracks the protection afforded To what extent is a country’s biodiversity
to conserve biodiversity and the extent of protected by law? How much tree cover
recent deforestation. loss has there been?
Waste & Waste & pollution tracks air quality, How bad is pollution in the form of air
pollution treatment of wastewater and heavy quality, heavy metals and wastewater?
metal contamination.
Water Water measures the observed water stress What is the ratio of total withdrawals to
of a region. total renewable supply of water?
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The pillars and topics above are included in the main inherent risk scores. The following indicators
are also used within Radar:
Index Description
Migrant This index represents an assessment of the likelihood that migrant workers, both internal and
Risk Index international, in a given country will be more vulnerable to conditions of labour exploitation.
The first component provides an indication of vulnerability for international migration, based on
an assessment of labour and governance conditions in both the origin and destination country
that would increase the risk of labour exploitation for migrants. The second component
represents the likelihood of internal migrants being more at risk of labour exploitation. See
‘Briefing note: Migration risk index scoring methodology’.
1.2 Sector weights
The country risk ratings (as described above) are weighted at the topic level by sector to generate
sector-weighted country risk scores – to highlight risks specific to each sector. The sector weighting
is applied first at an ISIC “section” level (21 sections) and then at an ISIC “division” level (99 divisions)
where risks vary within the sector.
Initial sector weights
The sector risk scores derive from independent, original research and also draw on existing sources
of information including Eurostat, Kepler Cheuvreux, UNICEF Children’s Rights Atlas, United Nations
Environment Programme Finance Initiative and US Sustainability Accounting Standards Board ,
which were selected according to the following attributes:
• Coverage – across the majority of sectors;
• Reliability – from reliable sources;
• Comparability – to enable the sector rating to be generated in a comparable way;
Sector scores assess the degree to which negative impacts on people or the environment are
considered likely in a specific sector. Each variable represents a qualitative assessment of the risks
within the sector.
Sectors are assessed based on the following factors:
• Organisations’ size as an indicator of the degree of due diligence likely to occur and
sophistication of processes and management
• Workforce skill level as an indicator of worker vulnerability to exploitation
• Labour intensity as an indicator of number of workers that the organisation manages
• Type of work as an indicator of skill level required and hazards faced
• Risks observed as an indicator of evidence of risk to people or environment in the sector
The measures range from a value of 0, which indicates no additional risk, to a value of 4, which
indicates extreme risk. The table below shows how these scores were derived, with incidental
scoring 0 and extreme scoring 4.
Risk level Sector Workforce profile Labour Type of work Risks observed in
organisations intensity majority of
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countries / across
sector
Extreme Most Most workers are low- High labour Most Evidence of
operations are skilled and may intensity operations severe negative
smaller scale, include seasonal, require low- impacts typical
including temporary or migrant skilled manual across sector
family and workers labour and/or major
artisanal sourcing countries
activities, or
subcontracting
Major Most Most workers are low- High labour Most Evidence of
operations are skilled and may intensity operations severe negative
smaller scale, include seasonal, require low- impacts observed
including temporary or migrant skilled workers in some parts of
family and workers the sector and/or
artisanal in some sourcing
activities, or countries
subcontracting
Moderate Most Most workers are high Mostly low Most Evidence of
operations are skilled, but the labour operations are severe negative
large scale, business may also rely intensity, mechanised or impacts observed
but there are on some lower skilled but some automated in isolated cases in
small-scale workers, including elements but some the sector and/or
elements or seasonal, temporary may require elements in particular
subcontracting or migrant workers higher require low- sourcing countries
labour skilled manual
intensity labour
Minor Large scale Most workers are high Low labour Most Evidence of minor
sophisticated skilled, including intensity operations negative impacts
operations, temporary or migrant common mechanised or observed in
corporate workers across automated isolated cases
multinational sector across the sector
operations and/or major
sourcing countries
Incidental Large scale Most workers are high Low labour Most Evidence of minor
sophisticated skilled, including intensity operations negative impacts
operations, temporary or migrant common mechanised or observed in
corporate workers across automated isolated cases in
multinational sector some parts of the
operations sector and/or
some sourcing
countries
See the supplementary ‘Sector and division scores’ document for explanations of the sectors based
on the scoring criteria.
Forced Labour Index
The Forced Labour Index includes a sector (division-level) risk for a selection of key sectors as
follows:
• Primary agriculture;
• Food and agri-processing;
• Light manufacturing (textiles & garments, shoes, electronics, home furniture and toys);
• Transport and logistics.
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Anthesis’s sector weights (as above) are used for those divisions not covered by the Forced Labour
Index. See Annex 3 of the Forced labour index methodology briefing note for details of the specific
ISIC divisions included within the Forced labour index.
Primary sectors
Users of the tool can filter suppliers to only show producers of primary materials such as agricultural
sites and mining sites. This is based on the site’s ISIC code. ISIC codes associated with primary
production are listed in Appendix 2.
High Risk Goods
A list of ‘High Risk Goods’ by country of production was produced according to the table below:
Risk Topic Author and source
Forced Labour Forced labour List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
(ILAB, US Department of Labor)
Child Labour Children & young workers https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-
labor/list-of-goods
Deforestation Biodiversity Forest 500 (Global Canopy Project) 2
forest500.org
Seafood Slavery Forced labour Seafood Slavery Risk Tool (Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seafood Watch Program, Liberty Asia, Sustainable
Fisheries Partnership)
http://www.seafoodslaveryrisk.org/
Where the combination of country and site activity (ISIC class) indicates the presence of a high risk
good then an additional score of 2 is given. This is reduced to 1 for Forced Labour for those classes
covered by the Forced Labour Index as this already includes a scoring element for this risk.
1.3 Combined inherent risk scores
Final inherent scores are on a scale of 1 to 10.
Country score (1 to 6) + Sector score (1 to 4) + ‘High Risk Good’ score (0 to 2)
If the score exceeds 10 due to the presence of a ‘High Risk Good’ then it is limited to 10.
The combined inherent risk score is equal to the average (mean) of the underlying topics.
Averaging is by topic rather than pillar to avoid giving undue weighting to the indicators underlying
the pillars with only one topic (Health and Safety, and Business Ethics).
2This data was obtained under licence from Forest 500 (forest500.org), a project of Global Canopy
(www.globalcanopy.org). They were obtained on 13/02/2020, at which point they were last updated on
12/02/2020. More up-to-date data may be available from Forest 500.
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2. Site characteristics scores
The site profile (from Sedex Advance – e.g. worker numbers) and site characteristics data (from the
SAQ) are used to produce additional risk scores: Site Characteristics scores and Management
Controls scores.
2.1 Site characteristic scores
SAQ and Site profile information provides data on physical characteristics of the sites and the types
of workers present. In this sense, it is used for enhancing the understanding of the likelihood of
particularly vulnerable workers. Focusing on worker vulnerability brings certain code clause into
focus too (e.g. gender discrimination, forced labour, regular employment).
Within Radar, a subset of the questions asked to a site are used to produce “hard data” about the
type of workers, how they are hired and employed, use of hazardous chemicals, and other key
characteristics of a site. This subset of questions is assigned to the relevant pillars. Scores are given
each answer according to their contribution to the pillar risk.
The combined site characteristic risk score is the average of the pillar scores.
There is no positive scoring for answers that might mitigate a risk within the Site Characteristic risk
score – management controls are scored in the management controls section. This is to maintain
the robustness of the score; to minimise the likelihood of incorrectly answered questions altering
scores, and to maintain a clear distinction between risks and (potential) mitigation of those risks.
Definitions
The following table provides an overview of what each topic means in the context of site
characteristics.
Pillar Description of risk
The descriptions provide an overview of the types of issues and questions considered – the list of issues and
questions considered is not exhaustive.
Labour • Forced labour: assessed by the presence of particularly vulnerable workers
standards & (including migrant workers, seasonal workers and temporary or agency workers)
rights and whether they are employed under unfavourable or exploitative employment
terms. It also takes into account the use of labour providers and the payment of
any fees.
• Freedom of association: are workers represented by a trade union or collective
bargaining and have there been any recent strikes?
• Wages: risk is assessed on payment method and payments of overtime premiums.
• Children & young workers: risk is assessed on self-reporting of children and young
people being employed and on the presence of family accommodation.
• Regular employment: workers are employed under potentially exploitative terms.
The score is determined by the types of contracts used and the use of
subcontracting that reduces visibility of employment terms.
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Pillar Description of risk
• Discrimination: The mix of workers, including women and migrant workers, is likely
to give rise to discrimination; the number of women in management roles, wage
differentials, grievance and absence rates.
Note that the following topics are not given a score as they are not easily assessed
through self-reported answers:
• Working hours
• Business ethics
Health and • Are there off-site or young workers?
safety • Do workers have access to hazardous chemicals or machinery?
• Are workers provided with accommodation or transport?
• Are there workers who are not fluent in the local language?
• Does the nature of the building present a high risk?
Environment • Energy & emissions: Does the site use particularly polluting energy sources or use a
lot of energy?
• Biodiversity: Are business operations likely to impact on local flora and fauna? This
is determined by the types of pollution the site creates and self-reported identified
impacts.
• Water, waste & pollution: Is the site likely to be particularly polluting at a local
level? This uses answers relating to the types of pollution produced and energy
sources used.
Normalisation
According to the answers given, each site ends up with a “raw” score for each pillar. These scores
are then normalised 1 to 10 based on the maximum possible score for each pillar.
The site characteristics scores are not normalised by supplier type, so business types who are asked
relatively few questions (and present relatively low risks), such as agents, may not be able to score
the maximum score of 10 against some topics. This is to ensure comparability between all supplier
types – only those that have the highest risks will get the highest scores.
3. Combined risk scores
The final scores are on a scale of 0-10, where 10 is high risk. They are a combination of:
• Country, sector and ‘High Risk Goods’ scores (“Inherent risk”)
• Site profile & SAQ scores (“Site characteristics risk”)
The combined total risk score is the average of the inherent risk score and the overall site
characteristics score.
These are categorised into High, Medium and Low risk according to the underlying scores out of 10.
4. Topic risk indicators
In order to brings certain code clause into focus too (e.g. gender discrimination, forced labour,
regular employment) the detailed site question and answer tables available within the tool contain
a list of all topics associated with a particular question. These are given a risk rating of minor, major
and critical based on expert knowledge. If a site gives an answer to a particular question that gives
rise to a risk then the topics that are potentially at-risk are displayed with their risk rating.
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These may be used as follows:
• Minor: the answer to the question may have a minor impact on this risk issue. It may be
helpful to check how the reporting business is addressing related risks.
• Major: the answer to the question may have a moderate impact on this risk issue. It may be
necessary to check how the reporting business is addressing related risks.
• Critical: the answer to the question may have a significant impact on this risk issue. It is
essential to check how the reporting business is addressing related risks.
5. Vulnerable workers
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) - a set of guidelines for companies
to prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses - highlight the need for businesses to pay
particular attention to those that may be at heightened risk of becoming vulnerable or
marginalised, and with due regard to the different risks that may be faced by women and men.
The following indicators are used to determine the prevalence of particularly vulnerable workers
using the supplier data available from the Site Profile and SAQ in Sedex.
Women
• What proportion of total workers are female?
• What proportion of female workers are migrant?
• What proportion of female workers are temporary or agency?
• Does the site employ young females?
Migrant Workers
• What proportion of workers are migrant?
• What proportion of migrant workers are temporary and/or agency?
Off-site workers
• What proportion of total workers are off-site workers?
• What proportion of off-site workers are homeworkers?
Non-permanent employment
• What proportion of total workers are temporary and agency workers?
• What proportion of total workers are seasonal workers?
• Does the Site employ Young Workers or apprentices, trainees or interns?
The supplementary guidance document ‘Risks associated with Vulnerable Worker categories’
details the risks faced by the four categories of worker across the topics covered by the tool (e.g.
forced labour, wages etc.).
6. Management Controls
Summary
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The methodology for scoring the Management Controls question set distinguishes between different
parts of the management system. This approach aims to reflect the practical journey that many
businesses take as they build a mature system to manage their impacts. The goal is to reward
businesses that are striving to develop a fully integrated management system.
At the highest level, each site receives a score of 0 to 5 (where 5 is the highest and best score) for
the management controls they have in place for each of five pillars. The pillars are:
• Labour
• Health and safety
• Environment
• Business ethics
• Supply chain management
Scoring framework
The management control section in the risk tool is organised in three parts and the scoring system
follows this framework:
1. Management system controls
2. Management system sub-controls
3. Management system question set
The table below shows these controls:
Management system controls
Sub-controls Policy & Processes Monitoring Training &
Resources improvement
Tier 1 - Basic Relevant HR processes, Auditing, other Training
policies communication, checks
structures
Tier 2 - Enhanced Staff resources Certification KPIs and data Improvement
applied collection in relation to
suppliers or
others
1. Controls: A different weight or significance is given the different controls of the management
system. As developing a mature system takes time and most businesses begin with policy
commitments, the scoring reflects this approach. Thus, greater weight is given to Monitoring
and Data Capture than to Policy and Resources (see following section “Scoring in more
detail”).
2. Sub-controls: Different scores are given to the sub-controls within each management system
control. At each stage, these sub-controls are divided between those that are ‘basic’ or Tier
1, and those that are ‘enhanced’ or Tier 2. A ‘basic’ sub-control receives a lower score than
an ‘enhanced’ sub-control.
A ‘basic’ sub-control is essential as it creates a foundation for a healthy management system
(e.g. a policy commitment, training, auditing); however, it requires fewer resources (people,
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finance) and less time, leadership and commitment, than an ‘enhanced’ sub -control (e.g.
certification, KPIs, supplier relations).
‘Basic’ sub-controls are not sufficient alone to assure that reasonable due diligence is taking
place; a combination of ‘basic’ and ‘enhanced’ sub-controls is required.
3. Questions: Different scores are given to the questions which assess how a business is
performing against each management system control and sub-control. Questions are scored
according to the following framework:
Basic: Represents a response that is a necessary, first step, or an essential building block of due
diligence, but not sufficient alone to constitute reasonable due diligence. A business providing
positive answers to a majority of ‘basic’ questions is developing a solid foundation for risk
management.
Good: Represents a response that is considered good practice, when combined with other actions
to constitute reasonable due diligence. A business, providing positive answers to a majority of
‘good’ questions is striving hard to meet standards and improve its performance.
Advanced: Represents good practice, when combined with other actions to constitute reasonable
due diligence. A business, providing positive answers to a majority of ‘advanced’ questions is
forecasting ahead, taking preventative action, listening to workers and supporting suppliers.
Scoring in more detail
Each control in place contributes points towards the final score for the combination of pillar and
control type. The number of points awarded is determined according to the framework above, with
more advanced controls scoring more points. For some types of control, such as certification, the
total number of points that can be awarded is limited e.g. a company with five certifications in
place relating to a particular pillar will score the same as one that has two in place. This is to avoid
giving too much weight to particular controls.
The final scores (0 to 5) are determined by normalising the scores against the maximum possible
score achievable given that site’s worker profile and other characteristics as some controls (e.g.
review of labour provider practices) may not be relevant.
When combining individual control scores into one pillar score the following weightings are applied
to represent the relative difficulty in implementing the controls:
Total pillar Policy & Training & Processes Monitoring &
score resources improvement data capture
100% 20% 20% 25% 35%
7. Limitations
7.1 Data sources
While we consider that the data sources used are credible and have been compiled by experts,
there may be distortions or incompleteness in the data sources used, some of which are collected
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sporadically, or which incorporate judgements by the expert agencies concerned. Countries scores
do not contain a desk research component except where the underlying indicator included a desk
research. The desk research carried out for sector scores does not claim to be exhaustive and may
be limited based on the availability of publicly available information about risks in a specific sector.
While the list of potential High Risk Goods and the associated risks is collected from key, credible
sources including the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (US DOL) and Forest
500 (Global Canopy) it is by no means exhaustive. The absence of a High Risk product flag should
not be interpreted as confirmation that the product is not associated with a key risk.
7.2 Inherent risk scores
In the tool, inherent risk scores are presented as the sum of country and sector risks. These two risk
scores are considered separately to allow for the swift processing of weighted risk scores. However
please note that a limitation to this approach is that it loses the ability to consider specific reports
and circumstances that affect a specific known country/sector risks. The Forced Labour index is the
only index used within the tool that considers specific sectoral in -country combinations. Where
country / sector combinations suggest high risk scores, users should carry out additional research to
confirm the country situation.
7.3 Site Profile and SAQ information:
The Site characteristics and Management Controls scores, as well as information displayed in the
reports that show data relating to vulnerable workers, relies on self-declared information entered by
the supplier to their Site Profile and SAQ within the Sedex platform. This information is not verified as
being accurate and should be considered in conjunction with other sources of information, such as
data from audit reports and known industry norms.
7.4 Interpreting and using findings
The tool is designed to provide an indication of where risk can be highest within countries and
different sectors generally, but this should not be equated with certainty. Risk scores should be
regarded as a preliminary exercise. Country scores do not factor in regional variations. Where
countries and sectors are associated with a higher risk, there is a need for further due diligence to
verify risks and investigate the particular circumstances on the ground.
8. Supplementary documents
The following documents available in the Radar Hub expand on specific areas within this
methodology document:
1. Briefing note: Forced Labour index methodology
2. Briefing note: Migration risk index scoring methodology
3. Sector and division risk scores
4. Risks associated with ‘Vulnerable Worker’ categories
16Appendix 1: Country Indicators by topic
Topic Indicator Indicator Description Source Data
(publication)
year
Gender Gender The GII measures gender inequalities in reproductive health, UN 2018
inequality Index measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; (2019)
empowerment, measured by proportion of parliamentary seats
occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males
aged 25 years and older with at least some secondary education;
and economic status, expressed as labour market participation
and measured by labour force participation rate of female and
male populations aged 15 years and older. It measures the human
development costs of gender inequality. Thus the higher the GII
value the more disparities between females and males and the
more loss to human development.
Gender Global Gender Economic Participation and Opportunity. Measures: World Economic 2018
Gap + Ratio Female labour force participation: male Forum (Dec 2018)
+ Wage equality for similar work
+ Ratio Female estimated earned income over male
+ Ratio - female legislators, senior officials and managers over male
+ Ratio - Female professional and technical workers over male
Gender Women, Does the law mandate equal remuneration, non-discrimination? World Bank 2019
Business and Does the government support child-care and maternity leave? (Feb 2020)
the Law Can a woman pursue similar jobs to men?
Custom subset
Forced Forced Labour Custom indicator: Ergon Forced Labour Index. The score represents Ergon Associates Various
Labour Index the risk of forced labour in a given country based on a composite (2019)
of indicators related to rule of law, poverty, informality, anti-
trafficking regulation, treatment of minorities and risks to migrants.
This was enhanced by desk research on known instances of forced
labour conducted for four economic sectors (agriculture, food
processing, manufacturing and logistics) for each country.
Freedom of G4 Personal Measures individuals’ equality of opportunity and freedom from Freedom House 2018
Association Autonomy and economic exploitation. Index used in FH indicator. 4 greatest (2019)
and Individual degree of freedom.
Collective Rights
BargainingVersion 1.2, June 2020
Freedom of Trade Union Ranks 139 countries against 97 internationally recognised indicators ITUC Global Rights 2019
Association Activities (ITUC to assess where workers' rights are best protected, in law and in Index, Geneva, (Jun 2019)
and Global Rights practice. Trade Union Activities is one of the composite indicators. Switzerland: The
Collective Index) Questionnaires are sent to 331 national unions in 163 countries to International
Bargaining report violations of workers’ rights by indicating relevant details. Trade Union
Regional meetings with human and trade union rights experts are Confederation
held where the questionnaire is disseminated, explained and (ITUC).
completed. The ITUC contacts unions directly by phone and email
when it becomes aware of violations to confirm relevant facts.
Legal researchers analyse national legislation and identify sections
which are not adequately protecting internationally recognised
collective labour rights.
Freedom of Cooperation in Assessment of how labour-employer relations are characterised [1 Global 2019
Association labour- = generally confrontational; 7 = generally cooperative] Competitiveness (Sep 2019)
and employer Index 2017-2018
Collective relations
Bargaining
Health, safety OSH indicator Addresses the extent to which a nation has implemented the The UL Safety 2018
& hygiene legislative and regulatory mechanisms necessary to ensure the Index (2018)
proper protection of its workforce from the hazards arising out of
work
Health, safety Fire, Heat, and Fires heat hot substances rating. unintentional injuries resulting from The UL Safety 2018
& hygiene Hot Substances fires, smoke, and several other hazards Index (2018)
Health, safety Exposure To Exposure to mechanical forces rating. measures injuries and The UL Safety 2018
& hygiene Mechanical fatalities caused by thrown, projected, or falling objects; a person Index (2018)
Forces striking against objects; and being caught, crushed, jammed, or
pinched in or between objects
Health, safety Poisoning Poisonings rating. classifies injuries due to ingesting drugs, food, or The UL Safety 2018
& hygiene Indicator toxic chemicals Index (2018)
Children & Children's The Children’s Rights in the Workplace Index measures the extent Global Child Various
Young Rights in the to which countries eliminate child labour and provide decent work Forum and (2018)
Workers Workplace: for young workers, parents and caregivers. Legal framework UNICEF
Legal indicators measure the measure the state's commitment to
framework implement its obligations to protect children.
Children & Children's Enforcement indicators measure the state's capacity to implement Global Child Various
Young Rights in the its obligations. Forum and (2018)
Workers Workplace: UNICEF
enforcement
Children & Children's Outcome indicators capture adverse impacts and infringements Global Child Various
Young Rights in the by both state and non-state actors. Forum and (2018)
Workers Workplace: UNICEF
outcomes
18Version 1.2, June 2020
Wages Whether the Custom indicator: This uses information from the US Bureau of US Bureau of 2018
country has a Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Countries are scored Democracy, (2018)
minimum according to whether they have a minimum wage, whether it is Human Rights and
wage, whether above the poverty line and whether it is enforced. Labor
that wage is
above the
poverty line,
and whether it
is enforced.
Wages This reflects the Custom indicator: The World Bank provides data on the % World Bank 2017
% of the (headcount) of population with an income below various poverty (2019)
population levels. $5.50 was chosen as it is the poverty line for upper-middle
living below the income countries, is well above the $1.90 absolute poverty line and
poverty line is more approaching a "living wage"
($5.50) for
upper-middle
income
countries
Working Mean weekly Mean weekly hours actually worked per employee by sex and ILO 2017, 2018 and
Hours working hours economic activity 2019
actually
worked per
employee
Discrimination Group This focuses on divisions and schisms between different groups in Fund for Peace 2019
Grievance society – particularly divisions based on social or political (Apr 2019)
characteristics – and their role in access to services or resources,
and inclusion in the political process. This is part of the Fragile States
Index.
Discrimination GSI Factor 4: Same sex rights, Acceptance of immigrants, acceptance of GSI 2018
Disenfranchised minorities (Jul 2018)
groups
Discrimination D2. Are Are registration requirements employed to impede the free Freedom House 2018
individuals free functioning of religious institutions? Are members of religious (2019)
to practice and groups, including minority faiths and movements, harassed, fined,
express their arrested, or beaten by the authorities for engaging in their religious
religious faith or practices? Is state monitoring of peaceful religious activity so
non-belief in indiscriminate, pervasive, or intrusive that it amounts to harassment
public and or intimidation? Are religious practice and expression impeded by
private? violence or harassment by nonstate actors? Does the government
appoint or otherwise influence the appointment of religious
leaders? Does the government control or restrict the production
and distribution of religious writings or materials? Is the construction
19Version 1.2, June 2020
of religious buildings banned or restricted? Does the government
place undue restrictions on religious education? Does the
government require religious education? Are individuals free to
eschew religious beliefs and practices in general?
Discrimination F4. Do laws, Are members of various distinct groups—including ethnic, religious, Freedom House 2018
policies, and gender, LGBT, and other relevant groups—able to effectively (2019)
practices exercise their human rights with full equality before the law? Is
guarantee violence against such groups considered a crime, is it widespread,
equal and are perpetrators brought to justice? Do members of such
treatment of groups face legal and/or de facto discrimination in areas including
various employment, education, and housing because of their
segments of identification with a particular group? Do noncitizens—including
the migrant workers and noncitizen immigrants—enjoy basic
population? internationally recognized human rights, including the right not to
be subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment, the right to
due process of law, and the freedoms of association, expression,
and religion? Do the country’s laws provide for the granting of
asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol,
and other regional treaties regarding refugees? Has the
government established a system for providing protection to
refugees, including against refoulement (the return of persons to a
country where there is reason to believe they would face
persecution)?
Regular Wage and Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who World 2019
employment salaried hold the type of jobs defined as "paid employment jobs," where Development
workers, total the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit Indicators
(% of total employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is World Bank / ILO
employment) not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they
work.
Business Irregular Average score across the five components of the following Global 2017/18
Ethics payments and Executive Opinion Survey question: In your country, how common is Competitiveness (Sep 2017)
bribes it for firms to make undocumented extra payments or bribes Index 2017-2018
connected with (a) imports and exports; (b) public utilities; (c)
annual tax payments; (d) awarding of public contracts and
licenses; (e) obtaining favourable judicial decisions? In each case,
the answer ranges from 1 [very common] to 7 [never occurs]
Biodiversity BDH - Marine protected areas, biome protection, species protection Yale EPI 2018
Biodiversity & index. (Jan 2018)
Habitat (EPI)
Biodiversity TCL – Forests The total area of tree loss in areas with greater than 30% tree Yale EPI 2018
(EPI) canopy cover divided by the forest cover in the year 2000. (Jan 2018)
20Version 1.2, June 2020
Energy & CCE - Climate CO2 total (50%), CO2 power (20%) , methane (20%), N20, Black Yale EPI 2018
Emissions & Energy (EPI) carbon (Jan 2018)
Water Water Stress A measure of the extent to which the raw material and source World Resources 2017
Index location are subject to observed water stress. Institute
Waste and AIR - Air Quality Air quality indicator at country level. three indicators of exposure Yale EPI 2018
pollution to air pollution, measuring PM2.5 exposure, PM2.5 exceedance (Jan 2018)
and HAP. These indicators capture a substantial portion of the
global variation in health impacts due to air quality, either because
of the direct threat posed by these pollutants or because they are
correlated with threats posed by other pollutants (World Health
Organization, 2016b).
Waste and HMT_Heavy lead is a major environmental threat because of its severe human Yale EPI 2018
pollution Metals health effects, and because of its global prevalence in air, water, (Jan 2018)
dust and soil, and various manmade products. We measure lead
exposure using the number of age-standardized disability-adjusted
life years (DALYs) lost per 100,000 persons due to this risk. The data
on lead exposure DALY rates come from the Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD),
which is the most comprehensive worldwide epidemiological study
of lead exposure to date.
Waste and WRS - Waste Measures wastewater treated weighted by connection rate. Yale EPI 2018
pollution water (Jan 2018)
treatment (EPI)
Appendix 2 – Sectors
The ISIC section headings are:
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing L - Real estate activities
B -Mining and quarrying M - Professional, scientific and technical activities
C - Manufacturing N - Administrative and support service activities
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning O - Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
supply
21Version 1.2, June 2020
E - Water supply; sewerage, waste P - Education
management and remediation activities
F - Construction Q - Human health and social work activities
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor R - Arts, entertainment and recreation
vehicles and motorcycles
H - Transportation and storage S - Other service activities
I - Accommodation and food service activities T - Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and
services-producing activities of households for own use
J - Information and communication U - Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies
K - Financial and insurance activities
Primary production – ISIC codes
011 Growing of Non- 016 Support activities to agriculture and post- 06x Extraction of crude petroleum
Perennial Crops harvest crop activities and natural gas
012 Growing of Perennial 02x Forestry and logging 07x Mining of metal ores
Crops 03x Fishing and Aquaculture 08x Other mining and quarrying
013 Plant Propagation
05x Mining of coal and lignite
014 Animal production
015 Mixed farming
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