In this special episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis preview their upcoming live forum event on "Preventing Criminal Manslaughter - Understanding & Implementing SFAIRP (So Far As Reasonably Practicable)". The event will feature presentations from a lawyer, Joseph Coleiro, and an architect, Dr. Frank Stoks, along with the hosts Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis, with the focus on exploring the legal obligations and prac...
In this final episode of Season 5, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis conclude their theme of difficult conversations engineers need to have as well as discuss Engineering for Communities. They explore how engineering should focus on improving rather than maintaining the status quo, and the concerning trend of engineers being sidelined in critical decision-making processes. The discussion includes: How councils and planning decisions have become "de-engineered"The...
In this episode of "Risk! Engineers Talk Governance," due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis revisit the fundamentals of engineering due diligence in response to listener feedback about confusion between risk, assurance and diligence. The discussion covers how R2A became specialised in due diligence engineering through their expert witness work, where they learned that due diligence serves as a defense against negligence with two key components: having reasonable control in...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis tackle the growing problem of organisational silos and their impact on due diligence and explore how siloed thinking undermines efforts across various domains—from safety, projects and regulatory compliance. Drawing from decades of industry experience, Richard traces the evolution of risk engineering. They then discuss the need for integrating expertise across the entire organisation ...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss why effective due diligence arguments need to be relevant, reasoned, and concise. They share their frustrations with overly complex safety documentation that fails to deliver clear, defensible arguments, and explain why safety cases should be brief yet comprehensive enough to stand up to legal scrutiny. Drawing from their extensive experience as expert witnesses an...
In this episode, of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis revisit the distinction between SFAIRP (So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable) and Target Levels of Risk and Safety. They explain how target levels of risk continue to be problematic in engineering despite being legally unsupportable under WHS/OHS legislation and share examples of regulators and engineers still using outdated approaches and discuss why this confusion persists, p...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineering experts Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss why Standards are not the solution. They explore why following Standards can be problematic, outlining key issues: 1. Using Standards out of context; 2. There’s no explanation for rationales; 3. They don’t cover all things; and 4. They are often lagging indicators. They share a n...
In this episode of "Risk! Engineers Talk Governance," due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss Insurance Criteria and its history and modern relevance, particularly focusing on the Highly Protected Risk (HPR) engineering process. Richard shares his experience training with Factory Mutual in the US and explains how the HPR approach originated in the 1840s with Zacharia Allen, a cotton mill owner who re-engineered his facility to minimise fire risks. When his insurance ...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis this season’s theme of "Difficult Conversations Engineers Need to Have About Risk". Key discussion points include: Risk is multidimensional. Risk covers a big domain that has lead to confusion.There are three different types of risk, but R2A’s focus is typically on safety risk and project risk – downside risk.Commercial industry like to focus on upside, downside risk (risk ...
In this first episode of Season 5 of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis provide an overview of their new booklet "Risk Management and Negligence - Due Diligence Essentials for Engineers". They discuss the importance of engineers to understand their responsibilities around risk management and due diligence, and the need to communicate this effectively to senior decision-makers. The booklet covers: You can’t always be right but...
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...
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 a...
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 fores...
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 (w...
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 argume...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the new booklet titled "Due Diligence Essentials for Engineers" being authored by Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis. They talk about the need for the booklet being that Engineers are becoming more involved in the governance process in providing information to boards, directors and senior people. Engineers are ones aware of the critical things that can go wrong and what b...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the differences between the "laws of man" and the "laws of nature" in the context of due diligence engineering. Drawing on their experiences as Expert Witnesses in the Australian and NZ judicial systems, the conversation covers the following key points: A brief history of Common Law.The adversarial system in common law, where lawyers argue different sides of a case befor...
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the application of the due diligence process to the aviation industry. Richard discusses his recent presentation to the Australian Aviation Wildlife Hazard Group where he used the expert witness view: What is it that could have been done and if it had been done, would it have stopped it going wrong? Key take-aways: - Hazards and vulnerabilities in aviation, ...
In this episode, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss controls and liability when it comes to AI and robots. OHS/WHS legislation require achieving the highest level of hazard control that is reasonably practicable. AI/Robots present potential controls to address many safety issues and can be implemented to improve safety. They discuss a number of examples where AI and robots are already enhancing safety and removing people from dangerous tasks, a...
In the first episode of Season 4 of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the judicial need for reliable knowledge and the need to demonstrate causation. They highlight some of their Expert Witness examples to demonstrate how for the courts to come to a decision, they have to not only have an understanding of what went wrong, but if there was something that could have been done that would've prevented the incident. And if this...