Risk! Engineers Talk Governance

In the final episode of Season 4 of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis wrap up the key theme of the season of due diligence as a governance process. They also provide another industry example in Dam Safety, and discuss the relevance of WHS/OHS legislation and the state of prosecutions. Key take-aways include: *  The due diligence process is a governance process that focuses on high consequence, low likelihood events rather than risk management. * Dam safety highlights how regulators focus on the worst-case scenario of a dam failure rather than likelihood. * The due diligence process involves four key tasks: completeness checks, identifying critical issues, determining reasonable controls, and implementing a quality assurance system.  * WHS/OHS legislations must be integrated across safety decisions.  * WHS prosecutions seem to be more prevalent in jurisdictions where it’s been in place a while, with regulators more likely to prosecute smaller to medium-sized organisations due to the increased likelihood of winning.   For further information on Richard and Gaye’s consulting work with R2A, head to https://www.r2a.com.au [https://www.r2a.com.au]. Gaye is also founder of women’s safety workwear company Apto PPE if you’d like to check out the garments at https://www.aptoppe.com.au [https://www.aptoppe.com.au]    Look out for Season 5 coming soon!

In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss due diligence for bushfires. Richard has been involved in advising on bushfire risk and controls since Ash Wednesday in 1984, while both Richard and Gaye as R2A were involved with bushfire assessments post Black Saturday in 2009.   Their discussion highlights: * Bushfire season is getting longer, and the ability to prepare for it is getting shorter. Volunteer firefighters are also declining. * Bushfire best practice for local planning for protection has adopted a vulnerability approach – criticality rather than likelihood. * From a due diligence viewpoint, we know we cannot stop bushfires. But, what are all the controls that we can put in place?   * Often it's not the threat of the bushfire itself, but the interaction of a community or people with the bushfire – the vulnerability of peri-urban areas. * Building codes have been updated to improve bushfire resistance, but challenges remain around prescribed burning and access of remote areas during fires. * Prepare your property, but be ready to evacuate early on high-risk days, as access can quickly become blocked.   For further information on Richard and Gaye’s consulting work with R2A, head to https://www.r2a.com.au [https://www.r2a.com.au/].

In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss due diligence in the electrical and power industry. They discuss due diligence and risk management considerations in the sector, with examples that focus on renewable energy sources like wind turbines and the potential role of nuclear power in Australia's energy mix. Key points include: * The need to carefully assess and document the safety and emergency protocols even for foreseeable events like fires. * The trade-offs involved in designing effective systems which can sometimes introduce new risks. * The challenges of transitioning to a more distributed, renewable-heavy electrical grid, including the need for reliable baseload power and the shifting seasonal demand patterns in Australia. * The thorough, "cradle-to-grave" approach taken by Finland in developing nuclear power, which may serve as a model for Australia. * The difficulty of developing a coherent, long-term national energy policy due to the political complexities involved.   Find out more about Richard and Gaye’s consulting work at https://www.r2a.com.au [https://www.r2a.com.au]. The full episode on Nuclear Power is Episode 9, Season 2 of this podcast.

In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the obligations for engineers under the WHS legislation (OHS Act in Victoria) and understanding the importance of their role if things go wrong. They discuss the fact that Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation is the overarching legislation in Australia that must guide engineering design and decision-making, and their surprise at this lack of awareness and how many still (wrongly) use Standards as a design basis. They emphasise that engineers are central to upholding WHS requirements, as they are the designers responsible when things go wrong and that the engineering design process needs to be a top-down, holistic approach that considers all relevant stakeholders and objectives, not a bottom-up siloed approach.  Find out more about Richard and Gaye’s consulting work at https://www.r2a.com.au.

In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the application of due diligence in the Marine Pilotage industry.  They discuss various consulting work they’ve done with Marine Pilots across Australia and New Zealand ports, and summarise the key take-away that the process is no different for pilotage due diligence reviews than any other (industry’s) due diligence review.  That is,  * There needs to be an argument as to why all the credible critical issues have been identified.  * In a port, they typically look at all the user groups and what activities they're doing.  * Look at all the controls that can be put in place, which are reasonable in the circumstances.  * Always needs to be a quality assurance system to make sure that what is being put in place are sustained and managed accordingly.  But, noting, there will be site specific or port specific issues so the controls put in place may be different.   Find out more about Richard and Gaye’s consulting work at https://www.r2a.com.au.