Shared Safety and Risk Hosts Inaugural Roundtable Lunch at The International, Sydney
On Thursday, September 4, Shared Safety and Risk hosted its first roundtable client lunch at The International in Sydney, bringing together professionals from legal, HR, safety, risk and leadership development to discuss emerging workplace challenges. Each attendee shared risks from their domain, with a strong unifying theme quickly identified: psychosocial risks management in the workplace.
Key risk factors raised in the conversation included poor work design, high job demands, unclear roles, bullying and harassment. Many organisations are struggling to assess, control and eliminate these complex risks, prompting robust discussion of both challenges and innovations to effectively control these risks.
Expert perspectives were provided by Sam Jackson and Ben Burke (Partners, Sparke Helmore Lawyers), leadership coach Shilpi Joshi, and SSR consultants Melissa Heggarty and Stephanie Chapman.
Key takeaways:
Regulators are sharpening their focus on workplace incivility, including bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, with expectations for organisations to identify risk factors in consultation with workers.
Psychosocial risks—including poor work design, unclear roles, bullying, poor behaviour and job pressures—are rising concerns and must be managed with the same rigour as physical risks.
Investigations into psychosocial risks should be trauma-informed and person-centred, with causative factor escalation to Officers and Boards where required.
A multidisciplinary approach is essential, integrating HR, WHS, L&D, Risk and Legal expertise, guided by data and risk insights.
Leadership is critical. Leaders need targeted workplace-focused coaching—what was described as a “guide on the side”—to embed lasting capability.
Fruit baskets, mental health first aid and EAP programs alone are not sufficient. Managing psychosocial risks is an ongoing, organisation-wide process, not a “one-and-done” exercise.
The roundtable reinforced the “shared” in Shared Safety and Risk: collaboration across disciplines to create safer, healthier and more productive workplaces. For our founder Sue Chennell, it was a reminder of why she started the business 13 years ago—to help clients work through challenges together and drive meaningful change.
