Risk! Engineers Talk Governance
Risk! Engineers Talk Governance
Richard Robinson & Gaye Francis
Due Diligence and Risk Engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss governance in an engineering context.Richard & Gaye are co-directors at R2A and have seen the risk business industry become very complex. The OHS/WHS 'business', in particular, has turned into an industry, that appears to be costing an awful lot of organisations an awful lot of money for very little result. Richard & Gaye's point of difference is that they come from the Common Law viewpoint of what would be expected to be done in the event that something happens. Which is very, very different from just applying the risk management standard (for example). They combine common law and risk management to come to a due diligence process to make organisations look at what their risk issues are and, more importantly, what they have to have in place to manage these things.Due diligence is a governance exercise. You can't always be right, but what the courts demand of you is that you're always diligent 
Season 6 Wrap: SFAIRP Complexities
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis wrap up Season 6 and the theme of SFAIRP complexities. Key season highlights they revisit: Three essential components of SFAIRP: "As Far", "As Is", and “Reasonably Practicable”,Confusion around hierarchy of controls, Contradictions between WHS Legislation (OHS Act in Victoria) and planning and safety law.Watch out for 2026 for Season 7. For further information on Richard and Gaye...
Dec 14, 2025
13 min
Two Types of Regulators
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the two types of Regulators. They outline two fundamentally different regulatory philosophies: regulators who view prosecutions as a measure of success versus those who see them as a measure of failure. The discussion examines how the "so far as is reasonably practicable" (SFAIRP) framework has shifted the burden of proof, making it harder for some regulators to secure convict...
Dec 7, 2025
12 min
Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace Regulations
In this special episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss psychosocial hazards in the workplace and the newly introduced Victorian Occupational Health and Safety (Psychosocial Health) Regulations 2025, which came into effect on 1 December. They explain that the new regulations largely re-states existing Occupational Health and Safety legislation requirements to identify, eliminate, and reduce such hazards as far as reasonably...
Dec 1, 2025
10 min
Breaking SFAIRP down to three parts: So Far (SF). As Is (AI). Reasonably Practicable (RP)
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis break down the concept of SFAIRP "So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable" into three key parts: "So Far", "As Is", and "Reasonably Practicable". This was one of their key take-aways from their recent Live Forum where lawyer Joseph Coleiro articulated the following: "So Far" refers to the notion of doing as much as possible to address a risk, rather than just meeting a target level of ris...
Nov 23, 2025
13 min
Formal Safety Assessments
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss Formal Safety Assessments. Key highlights include: A Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) is meant to provide a logical and reasoned argument that can withstand legal scrutiny.Formal Safety Assessments should identify the critical issues of concern, the current controls in place, and the further practical controls that could be considered, as well as the reasoning for implemen...
Nov 16, 2025
10 min
Safety Culture (Revisited)
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis revisit the topic of Safety Culture. They review the work of Professor Patrick Hudson, who identified five levels of safety culture, from pathological (who cares as long as we're not caught) to generative (safety is how we do business around here). Richard and Gaye observe that many organisations tend to be more reactive, focusing on implementing controls after incidents occur, rather...
Nov 9, 2025
9 min
Could vs Should in Workplace Safety
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss Could vs Should in Workplace Safety. (Thanks Nick for your email, case reference and questions.) They explore the critical distinction between what "could" have been done versus what "should" have been done in workplace safety, sparked by the SKM Services case against Magistrates Courts of Victoria, and discuss how experts often use hindsight to determine what could have preve...
Oct 26, 2025
9 min
Safety & Planning Law Complications
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the complications of Safety Legislation & Planning Law. Drawing on their extensive experience across multiple Australian jurisdictions—including Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and federal government projects—Richard and Gaye discuss the challenges engineers and designers face when navigating competing legislative requirements. They examine why Work Health an...
Oct 19, 2025
12 min
Safe Work Australia's Best Practice Review of Model WHS Act & Regulations
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss Safe Work Australia's review of the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act & Regulations, and R2A’s submission response. Key points include: Contradictions between the WHS legislation, regulations, and common law requirements, particularly for designers and engineers. Concerns around the hierarchy of controls and how they are interpreted by regulators.Inconsist...
Oct 12, 2025
12 min
Rail Safety National Law Pressures & the SFAIRP Approach
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis answer a listener’s question on the Pressures of Rail Safety National Law and the SFAIRP Approach. They explain how WHS/OHS legislation takes precedence over the Rail Safety National Law, clarify the "no double jeopardy" principle, and discuss how Australia's federal system led to harmonised rail safety legislation. Their discussion also covers: The SFAIRP (So Far As Is Reasonably Pra...
Oct 5, 2025
11 min
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