OERt Masterclass | Rethinking WHS Assurance and Governance

Thank you to those that joined us for the Rethinking WHS Assurance and Governance session we hosted with Greg Smith from Jackson McDonald Lawyers. It was a pleasure to have everyone join the discussions exploring the intersection of workplace safety, governance, and legal risk management. 

A Special Thank You​​

Thank you to Greg for today's session that challenged conventional thinking around safety management systems, asking an important question: Does safety management create as much risk as it manages? 

Event Recap and Key Takeaways​

Drawing on recent WHS prosecutions and real-world examples, the presentation explored how safety management systems can sometimes fail to prevent major incidents and, in some cases, become factors that contribute to increased organisational liability.

Key insights included:

• Understanding legal risk as one of several interconnected risks, alongside safety, reputation, business continuity, regulatory relationships, and compensation exposure.
• Examining how activities, hazards, risks, controls, and system effectiveness all influence legal risk management outcomes.
• Exploring the concepts of reasonably practicable and due diligence, and what these obligations mean in practice for leaders and organisations.
• Reviewing recent prosecution cases where safety management systems became an aggravating factor in legal proceedings.
• Challenging assumptions that more procedures and initiatives automatically lead to better safety outcomes.
• Considering practical governance approaches that focus on critical risks, meaningful assurance activities, and effective oversight.