New Zealand's Health & Safety Amendment Bill — Leading the Way

New Zealand's Health & Safety Amendment Bill — Leading the Way

Author: Richard Robinson & Gaye Francis March 22, 2026 Duration: 16:10
In this episode, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss New Zealand's Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill and explore why New Zealand is leading the in workplace health and safety. They break down the key changes in the amendment, including a sharper focus on critical risk and what this means for both large organisations and small PCBUs. The conversation touches on the real-world prosecutions that appear to have motivated the reform, including the White I...

Ever found yourself wondering why safety and risk management in engineering feels so tangled, expensive, and disconnected from actual results? That’s the exact territory explored in Risk! Engineers Talk Governance. Hosted by Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis, both seasoned due diligence and risk engineers who co-direct the consultancy R2A, this podcast cuts through the complexity that’s grown around the industry. They’ve watched, with a practical engineer’s eye, as fields like OHS and WHS have ballooned into a costly business in themselves, often leaving organisations out of pocket without seeing meaningful improvements. What sets their conversations apart is a foundation in real engineering practice-they come from the tools-and-dirt side of things, not just a policy manual. Each episode digs into governance frameworks, decision-making, and compliance, but always through the lens of applied engineering logic and on-the-ground experience. It’s for professionals in technology, business, and management who are tired of checkbox exercises and want to hear frank discussions about making risk management sensible, effective, and value-adding again. You’ll get their direct, no-nonsense perspectives on bridging the gap between boardroom obligations and operational reality, making this podcast a unique resource for anyone tasked with building safer, more resilient organisations without the pointless overhead.
Author: Language: en-au Episodes: 70

Risk! Engineers Talk Governance
Podcast Episodes
How Standards stifle innovation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:35
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis from R2A discuss how standards stifle innovation. They highlight the frustration of engineers who are designin…
Risk Appetite versus Zero Harm & the Confusion at Board levels [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:12
In this podcast episode, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the concept of risk appetite versus zero harm and the confusion it creates at board levels because they're trying to put all of t…
Code of Practice & WHS/OHS Confusion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:13
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss Code of Practice and WHS/OHS confusion in relation to a presentation they delivered to the Dam Owners and Operators' Forum in…
Control & Reasonableness in WHS/OHS Legislation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:48
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss control and reasonableness in WHS/PHS legislation. They explain that the WHS/OHS legislation is a statutory statement of the c…
R2A's Due Diligence Process - Why it works [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:17
In this episode of Risk! Engineers Talk Governance, due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss R2A's preferred approach to due diligence. They explain why they start with a top-down approach, usual…
Design Analysis not Risk Analysis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:22
In this episode of the podcast "Risk! Engineers Talk Governance," due diligence engineers Richard Robinson and Gaye Francis discuss the topic of design analysis versus risk analysis. They explore the difference between A…