Please refer to ZDHC Approved Supplier to Zero Reviewer

The approval is specific to each locations. If the organisation is part of a group, each single location must apply separately.

In order to apply for approval to be a ZDHC Approved Supplier to Zero Reviewer, the applicant organisation should meet the following requirements:

ORGANISATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• The organisation shall be active in the field of auditing environmental or chemical management standards, quality inspections, or consultancy in the textile, apparel, leather, or footwear manufacturing sector.
• The organisation shall have at least three years' experience in technical consultancy, audits, or verification services in the textile, apparel, footwear, and/or leather industry.
• If the organisation wants to nominate a Reviewer i.e a consultant and not an employee, a valid contract shall be in place and a procedure that defines how requirements are verified.
• The organisation shall have implemented a quality management system and quality control procedures to select and monitor ZDHC Reviewers and ensure the quality of the verification process.
• A Code of Conduct and anti-bribery policy for all employees and contractors shall be in place. This shall be shared and understood by the Reviewers.
• There shall be a policy on customer complaints and grievances that applies to the reviewing process.
• The organisation shall warrant that it is maintaining proper professional liability insurance relating to the roles and services that it offers. For the avoidance of doubt, that coverage should be sufficient to cover the organisation's activities in the countries in which it operates and cover fully the organisation's activities as a ZDHC Approved Solution Provider.
• The organisation shall have procedures on how they provide effective Supplier to Zero assessment onboarding training reviewers. Global onboarding training procedures may be used, but onboarding training must cover Supplier to Zero specifically. This training shall be carried out at least once a year, or whenever there are significant changes to Supplier to Zero (whichever is sooner). This training shall be linked to the outcomes of performance monitoring.
• The organisation shall have a procedure on peer review used to qualify reviewers (please note that two peer reviews must be conducted by the Lead Reviewer on each Reviewer and 2 peer reviews must be conducted from ZDHC on each Lead Reviewer)
• The organisation shall define what may constitute a conflict of interest for the purpose of the review and shall have in place clear policies and procedures to manage the conflict of interest.
• The organisation shall have a system in place to guarantee that reviewers have knowledge of the country where they operate’s language.
• The organisation shall have a system in place to guarantee that reviewers have the knowledge of the country where they operate’s legislation.

REVIEWERS REQUIREMENTS:

• Reviewers shall have an educational qualification or experience (audited a minimum of 20 suppliers in the last 2 years) in chemistry, chemical engineering, environmental science, or environmental engineering, for the textile and/or leather sector.
• Individual Reviewers shall have knowledge of production processes in the textile, apparel, leather, or footwear industry from work experience (auditor, trainer, sampler etc.) of a minimum of two years.
• Reviewers shall have knowledge of health and safety and environmental legal issues in the specific countries they work.
• Reviewers shall be fluent (to a professional level) in the facility’s local language. If English is the first language, the Reviewer shall speak and communicate in English at a professional level.
• Reviewers should have general knowledge of the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme and the ZDHC Supplier Platform (NOTE: internal training is valid if at least one person in the company has followed an official ZDHC training)
• Reviewers should have industry third-party certifications (such as ISO 14001 Lead Auditor or SAC HIGG Index Verifier or LWG Auditor) to demonstrate auditing or verification skills. Internal training on ISO 19011 is also valid.
• Reviewer should have experience as an auditor for a certification programme that covers at least one of the following topics: H&S, Environment, or chemical management.
• After the approval, the Approved Solution Provider will receive ZDHC guidelines to be used to perform reviews.
• Nominations should be done through the Solution Provider Platform under the section “NOMINATIONS”. After nominating Reviewers, each of them will receive an invitation to the ZDHC Academy to register and follow the training and take the exam to be qualified as Supplier to Zero Reviewer.
• The ZDHC Approved Solution Provider will be required to inform of a Lead Reviewer who will be the organisation’s responsible person of reviewers and will be the only one communicating with ZDHC on StZ matter.
• To complete the qualification process for the Lead Reviewer, ZDHC will assess the first two reviews conducted, and the qualification will be granted upon successful completion.
• To complete the qualification process for the Reviewer, the Lead Reviewer will assess the first two reviews conducted, and the qualification will be granted upon successful completion.
• Recording of the activity shall be maintained for quality purpose.

• Maintenance of the qualification

  To maintain the qualification, each Individual Reviewer should meet the following yearly requirements:

  - At least one audit per year should be done

  - Participate to, or watch training webinars (if any)

  - Complete an exam (if any)

Please note in certain situations, ZDHC may request additional information and documentation or carry out specific evaluations. These may include derogations on certain requirements or acceptance of equivalent quality assurance criteria, to grant a fair, consistent, high-quality implementation of the Roadmap to Zero Programme on a global scale. If any extra fees are associated with this evaluation, the organisation will receive advance notice.