HIGG/FEM

Higg Index Assessments

Cascale unites brands, retailers, manufacturers and sector stakeholders in the common cause of sustainability for the worldwide apparel supply chain. ICG is an affiliate member of the Cascale and provides second and third-party assessments using the Higg Index tools to support our client's sustainability journey. Through assessment and audits companies around the world develop, evaluate, adjust and promote sustainable practices aided by the services ICG offers with sector knowledgeable verifiers.

Higg FEM is the Higg Facility Environmental Module.

Higg FSLM (Facility Social & Labor Module) is a tool within the Higg Index platform developed by Cascale to assess and improve social and labor conditions in manufacturing facilities by measuring worker treatment, health & safety, wages, and working hours. It uses the Social & Labor Convergence Program's (SLCP) Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) for standardized data collection but adds a scoring system to help facilities track performance and share results with supply chain partners via platforms like Worldly

What is FEM Verification?

Verification of the FEM self-assessment is conducted by a third- or second-party Cascale-approved verifier. The verifier is selected and hired to review a facility site. The verifier is the only person responsible for validating the accuracy of the assessment.

Types of Verification

• Onsite Verification: Verifier is required to visit the facility premises. If a facility wishes to publicly communicate Higg Index scoring they must complete onsite verification.
• Offsite Verification: Verifier is able to conduct the verification without going to the site, usually by other means such as e-mail, pictures, web-conference, etc.

Benefits of Verification

There are many benefits for Facilities to be verified by an Cascale Higg Eligible Verifier such as International Compliance Group - ICG:

• The Verifier has been vetted to ensure they have proper experience and knowledge. Each Higg Eligible Verifier must:
• Have education in an environmental-related field
• Have knowledge of Environment laws, regulations, and systems
• Have extensive experience in the verification on Environmental aspects in factory settings

• The Verifier has received in-depth Higg training and passed a final exam and are therefore well-qualified to ensure questions are accurately answered and comparable from one facility to another.
• Official Verified results are captured on Higg.org and can be:
• Shared with business partners in lieu of having another verification conducted, therefore reducing or eliminating “audit fatigue”
• Tracked, though time, demonstrating year-over-year improvement

FACILITY DATA MANAGER (FDM)

What is Facility Data Manager?
Brands, manufacturers, and facilities use Facility Data Manager (FDM), from Worldly, to track monthly environmental metrics and progress towards targets. This enables brands, manufacturers and facilities to collaborate more closely throughout the year on shared goals. Once facilities have tracked a full year of environmental metrics in FDM, they can save time on annual reporting by automatically importing their FDM data into the Higg FEM. FDM data can cover up to 100% of the Higg FEM L1 quantitative questions. Managing environmental data all on one platform helps move away from using spreadsheets for monthly data tracking and reduces errors in reporting. Brands, manufacturers and facilities use FDM to:

• Track monthly environmental metrics and progress towards targets
• Collaborate on shared goals throughout the year
• Save time on annual reporting with the Higg FEM by automatically importing data from FDM
• Manage environmental data all on one platform, to reduce errors and move away from spreadsheets

ICG provides facilities with the verification component for FDM and guidance needed for reporting