The ESG Essentials survey helps collect structured information from suppliers to support ESG due diligence and supplier risk screening. 

Some questions are tailored based on the supplier’s number of employees and industry, so suppliers only see what is relevant. 

This survey is not a full audit. It is designed to provide consistent, comparable inputs that can be followed up on where needed.

What the survey contains (sections & topics)

 1) Company information

• Company identity and basic facts (legal name, address, country)
• Industry / sector selection
• Company identifiers (registration or tax ID such as VAT, TIN, CRN, DUNS)
• Group structure (whether part of a group, parent company name and parent ID)

2) Policies

• Policy inventory: which ESG-related policies exist (for example, Environmental, Health & Safety, Code of Conduct, Anti-corruption)
• Evidence uploads: policy documents can be requested as file uploads depending on what the supplier selects
• Worker concerns / grievance process linkage (including whistleblower policy related coverage)

3) Environment

• Responsibility and management approach for environmental topics
• Environmental and energy management systems (where applicable)
• Carbon reduction targets and scope coverage
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) / carbon emissions calculation
  • Whether emissions are calculated
  • Which scopes are covered
  • Methodology used
  • Emissions values per scope (where requested)

 4) Workforce & leadership insights

• Workforce size and structure (FTE / headcount)
• Employee turnover (including turnover rate)
• Leadership and board composition by gender
• Recruitment and staffing practices
  • Use of recruitment or staffing agencies
  • Recruitment fees
  • Written contracts / documented terms
  • Seasonal or temporary workers

5) Health & Safety

• Ownership and responsibilities for H&S
• Health & Safety management system and certifications
• Workplace safety measures and processes (including free-text explanations where needed)
• Tracking of work-related incidents and injuries
• Quantitative reporting (for example total injuries and lost days)

6) Working conditions

• Freedom of association and collective bargaining
• Worker voice and employee-management dialogue
• Wages and working hours
  • Minimum wage compliance
  • Overtime practices and compliance routines
• Employee benefits
  • Whether benefits are offered
  • Which benefits are offered

7) Business ethics & due diligence

• Responsible person for ethics/compliance
• Certifications / standards 
• Sanctions list screening procedures
• Integrity procedures (gifts, hospitality, conflicts of interest, confidential information)
• Breaches of law and corrective actions (multi-select categories + description)
• Anti-competitive behaviour confirmation
• Subcontracting and value chain practices
  • Typical subcontracting layers beyond Tier 1
  • Consent to follow up with subcontractors
• Complaints/concerns processes and available channels (including for employees, suppliers, and subcontractors)
• Permits, licenses, and authorizations required for operations

Notes on answer formats

Suppliers will see a mix of:

• Yes/no questions
• Dropdowns and multi-select lists
• Numeric fields
• Open-text explanations
• File uploads (for policy evidence)