Our Approach
Black Swan Leadership and Assurance Services provides a comprehensive and independent review of Board and Executive Leadership preparedness to address the strategic and tactical challenges posed by the Health & Safety and Sustainability risks in the organisations over which they have oversight, responsibility and accountability.
This is done through a maturity assessment that asks five key questions:
Is the board and the executive management team aware of the management systems in place that directly and indirectly control major incidents and failures leading to HSE losses and impacts?
Are board members, including non-executives, executive management team members, and the advisors, experts and specialists working with the organisation, aligned on their strategies for the control of major incidents and failures leading to HSE types of losses?
Are board members and executives appropriately trained and knowledgeable and competent to deal with critical issues and challenges that relate to HSE and sustainability risks?
Is corporate loss control and HSE assurance, including both audits and risk assurance processes, in place? Is loss control and assurance in place in such a way that critical information is delivered effectively and in a timely manner to ensure that effective decision making is undertaken by Directors and Executives?
These will address the enterprise risks and will protect the company and the executive effectively in the delivery of their fiduciary duties.
Are the systems, at these top levels of the organisation, available, adequate, and effective in managing information being requested, received and analysed?
The effective working of these systems ensures the timeliness of information receipt, analysis and response by directors and executives.
Our Assessment Approach
Using a combination of investigative methods in our methodology and a set of performance criteria under several thematic areas an evaluation is undertaken. This assessment is based on a point-based scoring system supported with a qualitative validation review. The assessment is undertaken through:
Review of critical policies and documentation
Review of minutes of meetings from board meeting and selected board committees
Review of any charters for any special committees (at board and executive levels) that look at risk management and HSE matters.
Interviews with board members and executives.
Discussions with the Heads of HSE and Sustainability in the organisation.
Review of HSE performance over the past 3-5 years looking at both leading and lagging indicators.
The assessment is also validated through a half-day workshop with the board and executives which will give feedback and will include a report on the organisation’s maturity level, as well the proposed actions towards continual improvement.
