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Definition

RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire

The RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire is a corporate- and facility-level risk questionnaire that suppliers complete in RBA-Online and release to authorized customers, covering labor, health and safety, environmental and ethics practices.

What is the RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire?

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is a supplier-completed risk assessment in RBA-Online. It covers corporate practices and separate facility-level risks across labor, health and safety, environment and ethics. RBA says an SAQ is valid for 12 months.

Why does the RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire matter to you?

An RBA member customer may ask you to complete the SAQ and authorize access to the result. A 100 percent complete questionnaire is not visible to that customer until you select Release. Completing it or using RBA-Online does not make your company an RBA member.

How does the RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire work?

Your company administrator manages the corporate SAQ, while each facility being assessed needs its own site record and facility SAQ. The online form is dynamic: earlier answers determine which later questions appear. Match every populated question to the correct site's records, finish the form, release it, then set access for the named customer.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Answering for the group when the customer requested one facility.
  • Assuming every question in the offline sample will appear online.
  • Treating 100 percent completion as a risk score or customer approval.
  • Calling the SAQ an audit or an RBA membership certificate.

Is the RBA SAQ the same as a VAP assessment?

No. The SAQ is your self-assessment. The Validated Assessment Program (VAP) is a separate assessment process. RBA says only the SAQ Risk Questions in Step 1 are needed to request a VAP assessment.

What should you prepare for an RBA facility SAQ?

Start with the requested facility's worker profile, recruitment-agency details, permits, incident records, environmental data, policies and supplier controls. Index each file against the question number, entity, site, period and expiry date.

Example

Hypothetical example: Suppose a steel fabricator in South Africa receives an RBA facility SAQ request for one plant. Its dynamic form displays 18 applicable questions. The team has completed 16, while Facility Risk SAQ question L4 on recruitment agencies and question EV1 on environmental permit records remain open.

The team's internal question-count check is 16 / 18 x 100 = 88.9 percent. This is a progress figure, not the RBA's proprietary risk score or proof that every required field and attachment is complete. After the team answers both items, attaches the permit records requested by EV1 and checks every required field, its internal count becomes 18 / 18 x 100 = 100 percent. It must still select Release and authorize the customer before the customer can view the result. The release does not prove customer approval or replace an independent assessment.

Where it comes up

RBA corporate- and facility-level risk self-assessments with 12-month validityRBA Assessment, Risk Self-AssessmentOfficial sourceRBA Facility Risk SAQ questions L4 and L13-L14 on recruitment agencies and worker-paid feesFacility Risk SAQ 2024, Labor Risk Questions L4 and L13-L14Official sourceRBA Facility Risk SAQ questions EV1 and EV12-EV13 on permits, a GHG reduction goal and Scope 1, 2 and significant Scope 3 reportingFacility Risk SAQ 2024, Environmental Risk Questions EV1 and EV12-EV13Official sourceRBA SAQ dynamic questions, Release step and VAP request prerequisiteRBA SAQ FAQ questions 3, 9 and 17Official source

Related terms

Supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ)

A supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) is a supplier-completed form that tests named environmental, labour, ethics and governance practices against supporting documents for a specific company or site.

RBA Validated Assessment Program

The RBA Validated Assessment Program is an independent, site-level assessment that checks a facility's labor, health and safety, environmental, ethics and supply-chain management practices against the RBA Code.

Supplier code of conduct

A supplier code of conduct sets the labour, health and safety, environmental, ethics, record-keeping, and subcontractor rules a buyer expects its suppliers to follow and be able to prove.

SMETA audit

A SMETA audit is a site-level assessment of labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics against local law and the ETI Base Code, with findings recorded in an audit report and corrective action plan.

Sources

Last verified 2026-08-21

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RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire Definition | Keslio