Event Theme
Technology in WHS Forum
“Designing safety into the digital workforce”
Where timing, collaboration, and governance shape the outcomes of technology transformation
21 October 2025, Sydney, Australia
Location
THE LANGHAM
89-113 Kent St
Millers Point
NSW 2000
Forum Overview
Building on insights from the latest Safety Sphere Technology Readiness Report, we are pleased to present our first Quarterly Forum in Sydney, an exclusive half day event designed for WHS leaders driving technology adoption and governance across Australia.
This forum has been developed to deliver practical findings and frameworks drawn directly from national research into the technology readiness of Australian WHS leaders. The program focuses on the most common risks, challenges, and setbacks identified across industries from underdeveloped governance to collaboration gaps between safety and IT.
Each session has been carefully structured to help our members navigate the complex realities of digital transformation, from technology investment and implementation to cross-functional collaboration.
Through data-driven insights, firsthand case studies, interactive sessions and collaborative working groups, members will gain the tools and knowledge needed to strengthen governance, improve readiness, and deliver stronger WHS outcomes for their organisations.
We look forward to welcoming all our members to this inaugural forum and providing you with the intelligence, frameworks, and connections needed to create stronger WHS outcomes for you and your business.
Four key takeaways attendees will learn by taking part in the session:
Patrick Murphy
Maranda McLaren
Paul Cutrone
Dr. Liming Zhu
Christian Frost
Matthew Browne
Onur Taylor
Sarah Hellwege
Nicole Lawler
Tyron McGurgan
Upcoming Agenda
Registration and Morning Refreshments
- 07 : 00 - 07 : 30
- 30min
Tyron McGurgan
CEO & Founder
Focus Network
Tyron will open the forum with a quick rundown of what today’s event is all about, what to expect throughout the sessions, and what we hope you’ll take away from the experience. Each session has been carefully tailored to provide practical insights and support drawn from the findings of our national “WHS in Technology Readiness Impact Report.”
He will then share further insights into Safety Sphere, what it is, how it has evolved, and the major changes introduced, including a refreshed structure, new research-driven initiatives, and an updated membership model now open to both individuals and corporates.
Tyron will also outline Safety Sphere’s 12-month roadmap, featuring upcoming policy engagement opportunities and ongoing research, and explain why now is the time for the WHS community to get involved, to help co-create the data, insights, and tools the industry urgently needs, ensuring the voice of WHS leaders continues to influence policy, innovation, and best practice across the country.
- 07 : 35 - 07 : 50
- 15min
Maranda McLaren
Head of Experience & Insights Safety Sphere
As AI, automation and enterprise systems reshape how work is designed and experienced, WHS leaders face a clear choice, will safety be designed-in, or retrofitted?
Drawing on the Safety Sphere 2025 WHS Technology Readiness & Impact Survey (170+ WHS leaders from Australian organisations), this session recasts “readiness” as a leadership and governance challenge. We’ll show why the timing of WHS involvement, the quality of collaboration with IT and operations, and the maturity of governance, not the technology itself, determine whether outcomes protect people or embed new risks.
You’ll see the reality behind the numbers, 60% believe they’re prepared, only 1 in 10 meet the threshold. Late involvement makes harm 2.5× more likely, while early, structured involvement nearly doubles cultural benefits and lifts compliance by 50%.
Key Takeaways
- Why confidence without capability is dangerous and what the 60% vs 10% readiness gap really means.
- Why timing and collaboration matter more than the technology itself.
- How governance maturity doubles outcomes and shifts benefits from efficiency to culture.
- Where technology delivers the strongest benefit-to-risk returns and where risks cluster.
- How to spot the hidden safety impacts of enterprise technology before they’re locked in.
- Practical quick wins WHS leaders can apply immediately to lift influence and impact.
- 07 : 50 - 08 : 20
- 30min
Paul Cutrone
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw Australia
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being integrated into the way organisations manage risk, make decisions, and deliver outcomes across health and safety. But with these advancements come critical questions: can you reasonably rely on AI, and what are the legal implications if you do?
This session will take a deep dive into the opportunities and risks that arise when leaders place reliance on AI systems in key areas of governance and operations. From Executive and Board-level decision-making through to frontline control measures, AI is changing the way information is analysed, decisions are supported, and legal advice is provided.
Through practical examples and recent case studies, the session will highlight both the potential benefits and the pitfalls on AI trust. It will also provide clear and actionable guidance for WHS leaders on how to mitigate legal risks, strengthen governance, and position AI in a way that enhances, rather than undermines, health and safety outcomes.
Key Takeaways
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Gain a clearer understanding of both the risks and opportunities of relying on AI in health and safety.
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Learn how to appropriately position AI-based analysis within governance and reporting frameworks.
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Identify key considerations when risk assessing and applying AI-driven or AI-supported operational controls.
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Leave with a sharper view of the legal landscape, understanding where AI can support, where it may expose liability, and how to responsibly integrate it into practice.
- 08 : 25 - 08 : 55
- 30min
Dr. Liming Zhu
Research Director
CSIRO, Data61
AI systems are rapidly entering workplaces across sectors, transforming how work is performed, supervised, and evaluated.
As general-purpose AI rapidly transforms the way organisations operate, its impact on HSE leadership is becoming impossible to ignore. This session examines what this technological shift means for those responsible for safeguarding people, systems, and culture in the workplace.
The first part of the session explores how AI introduces entirely new categories of workplace risk, psychosocial, cognitive, accountability, and safety-critical, while reshaping long held definitions of oversight, human judgment, and responsibility. It considers the implications for governance, ethical decision-making, and the evolving role of HSE leaders in managing these complex dynamics.
The second part shifts focus to opportunity. It demonstrates how AI can be harnessed to strengthen HSE performance through better data utilisation, predictive analytics, and multimodal risk assessment. Participants will gain insight into how these tools can support smarter, faster, and more proactive safety interventions.
Drawing on leading national and international research in AI safety, ESG integration, and HSE benchmarking, this session aims to equip attendees with the knowledge and frameworks needed to anticipate, measure, and manage AI-related change, ensuring that technology enhances, rather than endangers, the future of workplace health and safety.
Key Takeaways
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Learn what makes general-purpose AI different. Understand how GPAI’s broad, continuous training makes it powerful yet difficult to supervise, challenging traditional ideas of safety and accountability.
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Gain insights into new workplace risks and explore how AI reshapes work, introducing psychosocial pressures, cognitive strain, and accountability gaps that impact wellbeing and performance.
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Discover how to design safer work with AI, See how AI safety and risk frameworks can guide the creation of roles where humans and AI collaborate safely, protecting trust and wellbeing.
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Explore AI as a tool for HSE excellence and learn how predictive analytics, multimodal risk assessment, and initiatives like CSIRO’s Tech4HSE and HSE AI Benchmarks are improving workplace safety and data-driven decision-making.
- 09 : 00 - 09 : 30
- 30min
Networking Break
- 09 : 35 - 10 : 05
- 30min
MODERATOR
Tyron McGurgan
CEO
Focus Network
PANELLISTS
Christian Frost
Principal Advisor
Safety Sphere
Matthew Browne
Managing Partner
Black Nova Venture Capital
Onur Taylor
CISO & GM Technology
Ventia
Sarah Hellwege
Director, Principal Psychologist
Psychgroup
During transformational digital change, when is WHS involved in technology decisions? Before or after critical design decisions that affect work design, workload, cognitive demand, autonomy, and psychosocial wellbeing?
This expert panel examines why safety must shift from reviewers and receivers to co-designers, particularly as psychosocial legislation requires organisations to demonstrate they’re designing work safely – not just managing hazards after the fact.
Drawing on large-scale transformation experience, digital architecture expertise, and psychosocial risk principles, the panel explores the compliance, cost, and capability implications of embedding safety in technology decisions.
The session will provide thought provoking ideas as to why safety exclusion from upstream technology decisions creates compliance exposure, cost risk, and psychosocial hazards and what you and your business can do about it.
Key Takeaways
Understand the types of business cases required to ensure early involvement, such as the typical drivers of ROI, simplified future-state architecture, process simplification, reduced clutter and total cost of ownership, field enablement, insurance optimisation, and avoiding expensive retrofits
Learn how system and work design decisions in core ERP, HRIS, rostering, and procurement systems contribute to psychosocial safety exposure, more so than a core safety management system and why safety must be involved in future state architecture design
Gain insights into collaboration models that deliver results, moving from parallel work streams to integrated design teams with joint accountability
Practical implementation: What capability building, governance gates, and metrics enable safety to contribute effectively to digital architecture.
- 10 : 05 - 10 : 45
- 40min
Patrick Murphy
General Manager, HSE
Transurban
As organisations accelerate digital transformation, the landscape of WHS risk management is being reshaped by data, AI, and automation. This session explores how safety leaders can harness these technologies to enhance prevention, and performance, while maintaining ethical and regulatory integrity.
Participants will examine practical frameworks for responsible AI adoption and data-driven risk forecasting, learning how to balance innovation with the duty to protect people, privacy, and trust. The discussion will also address emerging categories of risk, from algorithmic bias and data dependency to system reliability and cybersecurity, equipping our members with strategies to manage complexity in a rapidly evolving environment.
Key Takeaways
Learn how to balance innovation with accountability and understand how to adopt AI and automation responsibly while meeting ethical and regulatory expectations.
Gain insight into data-driven risk forecasting and explore frameworks for using analytics to predict, monitor, and mitigate workplace risks with greater precision.
Discover how to manage new technology-driven risks and identify and address emerging issues such as AI bias, data privacy, and system dependency in WHS governance.
Learn how to strengthen your capability in tech-enabled risk leadership and develop the confidence to lead safely and strategically in a data-rich, AI-driven environment.
- 10 : 45 - 11 : 15
- 30min
This working group session will support WHS leaders in uncovering where governance frameworks may appear robust on paper but fall short in practice. Working in groups collaboratively, it will provide an opportunity for WHS leaders to develop a clear plan to embed continuous review and improvement across decision-making processes.
Format
Readiness Self-Audit – Members will complete a governance maturity checklist covering four critical areas, structure, early WHS involvement, decision accountability, and post implementation review.
Red Flag Mapping – In small groups, attendees will identify governance gaps within their own organisations and share examples where these weaknesses have led to missed opportunities or heightened risks.
Action Prioritisation – Each participant selects one or two governance practices to strengthen immediately and defines the first step they’ll take back at work.
Outcomes
A personalised governance maturity snapshot.
A concise “First 90 Days” action plan to enhance decision making influence and continuous improvement.
- 11 : 20 - 12 : 20
- 60min
This session is designed to help support WHS leaders bridge the gap between current capability and future readiness by embedding foresight, governance, and resilience into their WHS technology strategy.
Format
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Future Readiness Heatmap – Members will complete a mini version of the Future Readiness Index, assessing their organisation’s capability, confidence, governance, and learning loops.
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Scenario Challenge – Working in groups, attendees respond to a fictional “next-wave” technology shift (e.g., AI-driven rostering, XR safety training, or automation platforms) using a rapid scenario-planning model:
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What could go right?
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What could go wrong?
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What governance, capability, or review processes are needed?
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Gap-to-Action Mapping – Each participant identifies their top three readiness gaps and defines one actionable next step for each.
Outcomes:
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A personalised Future Readiness self score for benchmarking.
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A practical gap-to-action map to strengthen resilience and foresight.
- 11 : 20 - 12 : 20
- 60min
Tyron McGurgan
CEO & Founder
Focus Network
- 12 : 20 - 12 : 30
- 10min
Networking Lunch
- 12 : 30 - 13 : 30
- 60min
Patrick Murphy
PRESENTER
General Manager, HSE, Transurban
Patrick is currently the General Manager of HSE for Transurban, former General Manager of HSE at Origin Energy and is the Chair of the Industry Advisory Committee for Safety Sphere.
Patrick has 25 years experience working across Australia and the world in senior HSE roles across industries such as Retail, Construction, Mining, Oil and Gas and Industrial.
He is a passionate ambassador for driving change in WHS and Environment that is led from within industry and leaders of work health and safety. Patrick has had the unique perspective of serving across various industries and serving on various WHS related Boards including WHS regulators, industry, community safety organisations and chairing the professional body’s board (AIHS) for several years.
Patrick recognises the immense opportunity in uniting and amplifying the industry’s voice to drive meaningful improvements in WHS outcomes across Australia. As a highly respected and experienced WHS leader, he is deeply committed to fostering change and advancing safety standards across industries.
Sarah Cuscadden
MODERATOR
General Manager HSE, AGL
Sarah is currently the General Manager of HSE at Australia’s largest renewable generator, AGL. A visionary who challenges the norm, where she serves as the Deputy Chair of the Industry Advisory Committee for Safety Sphere .
Sarah is passionate about presenting out of the box ideas and solutions to health and safety issues. With two decades of experience, Sarah has lead teams across household names such as OneSteel, Multiplex, Amazon and most recently AGL.
Sarah has had a diverse career starting in manufacturing, construction, fast moving consumer goods and now energy generation. Sarah has applied her operational knowledge to developing and executing health and safety strategies that accelerate safety leadership and performance, through an increase in engagement with employees and subcontractors.
Through her role at Amazon, Sarah led the Safety Leadership and Engagement strategy for Amazons global operations. In this role Sarah thought ahead creating technology and AI solutions that enable frontline workers to engage, participate and influence the safety and, builds tolls for frontline leaders to enhance their safety leadership capabilities.
About BeyondTrust
BeyondTrust is the global cybersecurity leader protecting Paths to Privilege™. Our identity-centric approach goes beyond securing privileges and access, empowering organizations with the most effective solution to manage the entire identity attack surface and neutralize threats, whether from external attacks or insiders.
BeyondTrust is leading the charge in transforming identity security to prevent breaches and limit the blast radius of attacks, while creating a superior customer experience and operational efficiencies. We are trusted by 20,000 customers, including 75 of the Fortune 100, and our global ecosystem of partners.
Website: www.beyondtrust.com
AGENDA AT A GLANCE
Be educated by Safety Sphere analysts to bridge internal alignment, enhance team learning, and solidify business case strategies
Connect with industry peers at our annual meetings that allow you to exchange insights, enhance your learnings, and engage directly with regulators to advocate for legislative and policy changes.
Strengthen your strategic decisions with local data driven, industry insights to confidently validate plans and benchmark budgets.
Evaluate your WHS practices and measure them against industry peers to support crucial safety improvements.
Be educated by Safety Sphere analysts to bridge internal alignment, enhance team learning, and solidify business case strategies
Connect with industry peers at our annual meetings that allow you to exchange insights, enhance your learnings, and engage directly with regulators to advocate for legislative and policy changes.
Strengthen your strategic decisions with local data driven, industry insights to confidently validate plans and benchmark budgets.
Evaluate your WHS practices and measure them against industry peers to support crucial safety improvements.
Our purpose
- To unite industry leaders at all levels, fostering collaboration to drive WHS improvements, while providing a platform for collective industry influence.
- To Facilitate collaboration across industries to address emerging risks and trends
- To leverage insights from critical WHS incidents to foster learning and prevention
- To strengthen senior executive and board-level engagement to drive greater WHS governance and leadership.
- To advocate for meaningful policy and regulatory reforms that positively impact workplace safety across the country
- To enhance organisational growth and decision making effectiveness by providing a single source of benchmarking data across the industry, enabling the validation of your safety strategy and the mitigation of strategic risks.
How We Support
Equipping Members with the tools to optimise WHS Performance and Outcomes
Discover our range of strategic services built to support leaders at all levels in achieving WHS excellence
BOARDS
Gain insight into potential risks to your organisation when making critical safety decisions by staying informed on recent case law, key rulings, and emerging trends.
Share and learn from the experiences of other directors at our Director Dialogue breakfast gatherings, dedicated solely to improving safety governance.
Events and Forums
Stay at the forefront of best
practices and boost your learning
As an individual or corporate member of Safety Sphere, members will receive exclusive invitations to attend our global events, including conferences, roundtables, forums, briefings, and social gatherings, all designed to equip leadership at every level, with the tools and knowledge needed to enhance safety outcomes.
Strengthen your knowledge
with insights from the field
Sign up to “Safety Sphere Pulse” to access a curated range of resources designed to support and strengthen your upcoming safety initiatives.
Governance Frameworks
Gain a greater understanding on our commitment to compliance and transparency for all members and review Safety Sphere’s Governance Framework documents, outlining key policies and standards across our body.