New Resources Page Makes Clear Requirements for Membership

The CHSA has launched a comprehensive new Resources page on its website. It gives members and prospective members the information they need to ensure compliance with the CHSA Accreditation Schemes.

Every CHSA member must comply with the regulations of the Accreditation Scheme they are a member of and the stipulations in the Code of Practice.

In the past 24 months, the CHSA has raised the bar:

• The technical regulations of the Schemes have been tightened, particularly the Schemes for cleaning chemicals and soft tissue.
• An ethical audit of all facilities that manufacture CHSA Accredited Product must be in place by 31 December 2026.
• Members are required to sign an ethical marketing commitment.
• Members are required to sign the CHSA Code of Practice, which incorporates the Competition & Markets Authority’s Green Claims Code.

Nicky Biggart, Chair of the CHSA’s Accreditation Schemes, explained: “Our Accreditation Scheme marks are trusted by buyers of cleaning and hygiene products as stamps of quality. To maintain this trust, our Accreditation Schemes must continually evolve. In the past 18 months we have increased the rigour and introduced requirements, including the ethical audit, that address the complex challenges of global supply chains and sustainability. The new Resources page has been developed to give existing and prospective members the information they need to understand the obligations of membership and ensure their compliance.

“Buyers and end users who review the Resources page, will now be able to see, in details the obligations placed on members and against which they are audited. Now, more than ever, they can be certain’ what’s on the box is what’s in the box’ if they specify Accreditation Scheme membership in tenders. Our standards, your guarantee.”

The information and guides on the Resources page are:

• CHSA Audits Made Clear. A summary of all relevant documentation.
• CHSA Audits: A Definitive Guide for Accredited Distributors. This document helps distributor members understand what to expect during an audit and how to prepare.
• CHSA Audits: A Definitive Guide for Accredited Manufacturers. This document helps manufacturing members understand what to expect during an audit and how to prepare.
• ADS Compliance Checklist. The checklist gives Accredited Distributors the information they need to ensure they conform to the Scheme requirements.
• CMAS Compliance Checklist. The checklist gives Accredited Manufacturers of Cleaning Chemicals the information they need to ensure they conform to the Scheme requirements.
• STAS Compliance Checklist. The checklist gives Accredited Manufacturers of Soft Tissue the information they need to ensure they conform to the Scheme requirements.
• CMAS Fact Sheet. Fact Sheet summarising the key elements of the Cleaning Chemical Accreditation Scheme.
• PSAS Fact Sheet. Fact Sheet summarising the key elements of the Plastic Sack Accreditation Scheme.
• MOPAS Fact Sheet: Fact Sheet summarising the key elements of the Cotton Mop Accreditation Scheme.
• STAS Fact Sheet: Fact Sheet summarising the key elements of the Soft Tissue Accreditation Scheme.
• Ethical Audit Requirement. The document summarises the requirements and scope of the ethical audit.
• CHSA Marketing Commitment. This document is the ethical marketing commitment all CHSA members must sign.

The website also contains FAQs, addressing the questions commonly asked by members and prospective members.

Run by its members for its members, the CHSA represent the major manufacturers and distributors supplying cleaning and hygiene product in the UK. The Association introduced its first Accreditation Scheme in 1997 and now has five: for manufacturers of soft tissue, plastic sacks, cotton mops, cleaning chemical and for distributors of cleaning and hygiene products. A Scheme for general members is under review.
The Schemes came into being to guarantee ‘what’s on the box is what’s in the box’. This certainty for buyers that they get what they pay for, has driven the trend of Scheme compliance being specified in tenders.