Global Responsibility International, an independent subsidiary of the Swedish financial services group Skandia, offers a unique business rating system, designed to assess a company's performance in:

• Quality management;
• Environmental management; and
• Occupational health & safety management.

The 'E&Q Rating' is calculated on the basis of information supplied by the company, which must be subjected to an independent audit. The rating places the organization into one of 13 classes, ranging from AAA+ ('very high') to C ('very low').

As well as providing individual companies with an assessment of their performance, Global Responsibility's service allows third parties to inspect the assessments of all the other companies held in the database.

According to GR, the E&Q Rating offers many benefits to businesses. It can:

• Improve productivity;
• Add value to production;
• Increase profits;
• Boost sales;
• Simplify procurement;
• Reduce purchasing costs;
• Reduce costs associated with errors;
• Reduce supplier delays;
• Minimize sick leave and accidental injury.

As well as highlighting strengths and weaknesses in a company's own operations, the E&Q Rating is also useful for assessing the credentials of suppliers and contractors, says GR.

The questions used to undertake an assessment are based on the ISO 9000 quality management standard, the ISO 14000 and EMAS standards for environmental management systems, and the OHSAS 18000 series of occupational health and safety standards.

An advisory council has been put in place to monitor the impartiality of GR, as well as dealing with appeals and questions of principle.

As well as assessing how well a company is performing, GR's service includes a customized improvement programme, designed to put right the shortcomings identified in the original assessment.

Click here to find out more about E&Q Rating.