You can't protect people you can't see

10 August

Most organisations working on responsible sourcing experience some version of the same problem: they know human rights risks are likely to exist in their supply chains, but they can’t always say where.

They can map Tier 1 suppliers. Beyond that, visibility gets patchy – and the further down the chain you go, the less confident most practitioners feel about who’s actually producing what, under what conditions, and for whom.

It’s a protection gap as much as a reporting one. If you can’t see where in your supply chain people are most vulnerable, you can’t direct resources, scrutiny, or support where they’re needed most.

Module 2 of ETI Human Rights Essentials – Protecting Human Rights: Supply Chain Transparency – addresses this directly. As Module 2 trainer, Stephen Craig notes:

It’s about understanding where power sits, and who has none of it.

Why some people are more at risk

Vulnerability to human rights violations tends to follow patterns. It occurs most frequently in informal employment, migrant labour, workers without collective voice or union representation, and sub-contracting arrangements that sit outside formal audit scope. Understanding those patterns is the foundation for everything else.

That’s where Module 2 starts – with the structural factors that make certain people more exposed to exploitation – before moving to the practical question of what to do with that understanding. Because assessing risk without first understanding vulnerability means working from incomplete assumptions.

After completing the module, participants consistently report strong gains in their ability to identify why some people in supply chains are more likely to face harm – with the majority rating themselves four or five out of five after the session. More importantly, that understanding connects directly to the risk assessment work they do in their own organisations.

A different kind of expertise

What makes Module 2 distinctive is the perspective trainer Stephen Craig brings to it. His background is in trade union work – over two decades managing national and international learning and skills programmes, including as a full-time official across maritime, education, and construction sectors. He has taught at the ILO Training Centre in Turin, served twice as Workers’ Representative at the ILO, and contributed to ILO Recommendation 204 on the transition from the informal to formal economy. He currently serves as Trade Union Coordinator at ETI.

That experience shapes how he approaches supply chain transparency. Where many HRDD training programmes treat visibility as a mapping or audit exercise, Stephen’s grounding in labour rights and worker organising brings something more politically engaged – a working understanding of where power sits in supply chains, how it shapes vulnerability, and why workers in certain sectors or employment arrangements face structural disadvantages that audits alone rarely uncover.

From mapping to action

The practical core of Module 2 is supply chain mapping and human rights risk assessment. Participants work through how to build visibility into their supply chains – identifying where different risks, responsibilities, and accountabilities sit – and how to use that visibility as the basis for practical risk assessment.

The emphasis is on application. The tools and frameworks introduced in the session are ones participants can take back and use in their own organisations, whether they’re working in responsible sourcing at a global retailer, sustainability at a food business, or supply chain compliance at a major brand.

As one participant from Diageo commented:

The trainer structured the session well, and translated complex concepts into practical, business-relevant examples, which helped connect vulnerability drivers and supply chain transparency to real-world human rights risks.

Stephen goes on to note:

It’s about understanding where power sits, and who has none of it. Workers in informal employment, migrants, people in sub-contracted arrangements: they’re often invisible to the businesses that benefit from their labour, and that invisibility is rarely accidental. If practitioners understand why that is, they can start asking better questions. If they don’t, they’re doing risk assessment with one hand tied behind their back.

Who this module is for

Module 2 is particularly useful if you:

• Know your Tier 1 suppliers but have limited visibility beyond them – and want to change that
• Are responsible for human rights risk assessments but aren’t confident in the methodology
• Want to understand the structural factors behind vulnerability, and build a more rounded picture of where audits reach – and where they don’t
• Are preparing for due diligence requirements under legislation like the EU CSDDD
• Work in sectors with complex or multi-tiered supply chains, including food and agriculture, construction, textiles, or manufacturing

What participants say

One participant from Harrods stayed online after the session to ask further questions, and commented:

The trainer was very friendly, informative and polite… I’ve really appreciated his availability.

Participants also identify clear and immediate applications for their learning – from supply chain transparency projects to internal training programmes to strengthening due diligence processes in their organisations.

Module 2: Protecting Human Rights – Supply Chain Transparency
Date: Wednesday 21st October
Format: Online
Cost: £595 + VAT (or £475 + VAT for ETI members)*

*Discounts available for multiple bookings.

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