Credibility You Can Stand Behind
Independent, third-party verification increases confidence in your data.
Higg FEM Verification
Verification strengthens the consistency, comparability, and credibility of Higg FEM data — helping brands and manufacturers use the data with greater confidence and make more informed decisions.
The Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), part of the Higg Index suite stewarded by Cascale, is widely used across the consumer goods industry to assess environmental performance. The Higg FEM is implemented globally through the Worldly platform, where facilities complete and share their assessments.
As adoption has scaled, the need for trusted, comparable data has become increasingly important.
Why is Verification Important?
Verification is a critical component of the Higg FEM system. It improves the accuracy of assessments, reduces variability in how they are applied, and enables more consistent interpretation of results across facilities and regions.
Cascale continues to evolve the verification program to ensure it delivers value, supports increasing expectations on data quality, and enables more reliable performance tracking.
What Verification Delivers
Consistency Across Your Supply Chain
Standardized application reduces variability and improves comparability.
Stronger Partner Trust
Verified data enables more transparent and productive brand–manufacturer engagement.
Readiness for Increasing Scrutiny
Supports more robust disclosures and alignment with evolving expectations on data quality.
Verification At Scale
The verification team supports brands, facilities, and verifiers through support channels, data correction processes, and regular calibration, including QA webinars. Verification is already a core part of how the industry is improving data quality and transparency. Learn more in our 2025 Verification Annual Report.
How Are Higg FEM Assessments Verified?
To verify a Higg FEM self-assessment, the organization engages a Cascale-approved, third-party verifier to validate the assessment’s accuracy. Verification supports transparency, enables year-over-year performance tracking, and strengthens confidence in the data shared with partners.
Who Can Verify Higg FEM Data?
Cascale vets and evaluates Verifier Bodies (VBs) and verifiers to ensure they have the required experience and expertise to verify Higg FEM data. Once approved in accordance with the VB Requirements Protocol, they are governed by ongoing quality assurance and status maintenance processes to ensure consistent performance integrity across the program. Verifier Bodies and verifiers carry out:
- Desktop Review: Also called offsite verification, this method involves the VB or verifier using documents, photos, digital data records, and/or remote interviews to review the Higg FEM self-assessment.
- Onsite Verification: The verifier visits the facility in-person to review data, observe operations, and confirm that the Higg FEM self-assessment has been completed accurately.
For a list of approved Verifier Bodies, visit the Higg FEM Verifier Body List. To learn more about becoming a VB or Trainer Body, please visit Sumerra, the Verification Program Manager (VPM).
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance (QA) plays a central role in ensuring that verified Higg FEM data is accurate, consistent, and fit for use. Verification quality assurance spans across individual assessments, verifiers, and Verifier Bodies. The QA program includes a range of activities designed to monitor verifier performance, identify gaps, and inform continuous improvement, including:
- Request a Counter Verification be performed by another VB or verifier.
- Request a Shadow Verification evaluation of a VB or verifier to ensure the quality of accuracy of the verification process.
Cascale also approves Verification Trainer Bodies to deliver official Higg FEM Verifier Training. Once a Verifier Body or Trainer Body is approved, they can display the following logos on their website and marketing materials.
Explore verification data quality through the Quality Assurance Dashboard and the Quality Assurance Manual.
What Are the Steps to Verification?
- The facility submits the Higg FEM self-assessment on Worldly’s platform.
- The VB assigns a verifier to the Higg FEM on Worldly’s platform.
- The verifier performs quality assurance activities listed above to ensure the accuracy of the assessment and, if necessary, recommends additional action to validate the accuracy of the assessment; then, the verifier completes the verification on Worldly’s platform.
- Facility reviews, finalizes, and posts the verification results.
- The facility can share verified Higg FEM Level 1 results with supply chain partners and publicly, as outlined in the Higg Index Communication Guidelines.
- The VB collects a Verification Access Fee from the facility, which is passed back to Cascale to fund the ongoing content and methodology development of the HIgg Index, associated programs, and verification protocols.
Key Higg FEM Verification Resources
- Access verification protocols, resources, and guidance via the HowtoHigg Higg FEM verification page
- Review the Verification Annual Report
- Learn more about Higg FEM: Level 2 and Level 3 Verification
- Level 1 Verification Is Great, What About Full Higg FEM Verification?
Contact Our Team
- Please reach out to verification@cascale.org with feedback or questions.
- If you have identified an ethics issue, refer to the Higg FEM Ethics Investigation Protocol.
- If you need to file a Higg FEM Verification Program Complaint, you can submit it here.