Leadership and Due Diligence

Most leaders in high-risk industries have some awareness of their WHS obligations, including a duty of care and the necessity to consult with workers. They understand that documentation is vital. However, what is less common is a genuine understanding of how these due diligence obligations translate into practice, what decisions may trigger personal liability, how to cultivate a safety culture instead of merely managing a safety system, and what due diligence actually requires of them on a daily basis.

Foresight ELS collaborates with leaders and management teams across construction, education, manufacturing, and transport to bridge this knowledge gap. We offer tailored coaching and training that builds true capability rather than just awareness, focusing on both the legal obligations associated with WHS leadership roles and the practical leadership skills that enhance safety culture across an organization.

Due Diligence: What It Actually Requires

Under the Work Health and Safety Act, officers of a business or undertaking, including company directors, principals, operations managers, and other senior leaders, have a positive duty to exercise due diligence. This duty is not fulfilled simply by having a WHS policy or delegating safety responsibilities to someone else.

Due diligence requires leaders to actively acquire and stay updated on knowledge concerning WHS matters, comprehend the operations of the business and the associated hazards and risks, ensure appropriate resources and processes are in place to manage those risks, and verify that these processes are actively implemented and followed.

We work with leadership teams to foster a genuine understanding of these due diligence obligations and their implications for daily decision-making. This coaching is practical and conversational rather than lecture-based, tailored to the specific industry, role, and organizational context of the participants.

Leadership Coaching and Capability Building

Beyond the legal obligations, effective safety leadership requires skills that are not always developed through technical career progression. Communicating about risk in a way that motivates rather than numbs, conducting toolbox talks that truly engage people, making decisions under production pressure while upholding safety standards, and fostering a team culture where individuals feel comfortable raising concerns are all learnable skills that significantly impact safety culture.

We provide coaching and development sessions for management teams, supervisors, and frontline leaders, focusing on practical leadership tools, communication strategies, and decision-making frameworks that directly enhance workplace operations.

What This Looks Like Across Our Four Sectors

Construction and Trades: Site managers and project directors face significant personal liability under Queensland WHS law. We collaborate with construction leadership teams to strengthen their understanding of due diligence obligations, manage subcontractor risk from a leadership perspective, and foster a safety culture on sites where the workforce frequently changes and production pressure is constant.

Schools and Education: Principals have a level of personal WHS accountability that many do not fully appreciate. We work with school leadership teams, including principals, deputy principals, and business managers, to enhance their understanding of WHS obligations, lead a school safety culture that transcends compliance checklists, and manage the specific due diligence requirements associated with excursions, contractors, and high-risk activities.

Manufacturing: Production managers and operations directors in manufacturing face unique challenges in maintaining safety standards while meeting output targets and managing shift work. We assist manufacturing leadership teams in building the capability to make sound safety decisions under pressure, communicate effectively with a production workforce, and fulfill their due diligence obligations in a complex operational environment.

Transport and Logistics: Under the National Heavy Vehicle Laws, CoR personal liability extends to schedulers, operations managers, directors, and drivers. Many transport leaders carry obligations that may not be fully understood. We provide targeted coaching and training for transport leadership teams, focusing on their specific CoR due diligence requirements and strategies to cultivate a compliance culture across a dispersed, shift-based workforce.