Greg Lazzaro
Principal Adviser
Health, Safety, Environment and Risk
Greg Lazzaro spent three decades in some of Australia’s most complex operating environments before co-founding The Strategic Step Advisory. He brings the kind of experience that only comes from having been genuinely accountable for safety outcomes that mattered.
How Greg arrived at
The Strategic Step
Greg began his career as an engineer before recognising early that his instinct was less for the detail of engineering and more for the broader system — how an organisation functions under pressure, where risk lives, and how leadership either manages or creates it.
He made an early pivot into health and safety at a large petrochemical complex, becoming the site’s first safety engineer. That environment gave him a rigorous grounding in the intersection of technical risk management and operational reality: fatigue, supply chain, production pressure, leadership tension, and the constant need to translate technical judgement into decisions that non-technical executives and boards could act on.
From there, Greg built an executive career across health, safety, environment, risk, supply chain, procurement and shared services — eventually reaching CEO level. Across those roles, he developed a consistent reputation as someone who could navigate complexity and build the conditions for sustained performance: not just safe organisations, but capable, well-led ones.
Throughout that career, Greg also coached executives and CEOs on what effective HSW leadership looks like in practice — how to build a culture of care, what questions boards should be asking, and how to translate safety obligation into genuine organisational value.
“You can’t shift an organisation in any direction if you don’t get the enrolment and buy-in from the people who are going to be part of it.
Intent without that is just a document.”
Why Advisory
Greg’s decision to move into advisory wasn’t an accident or a default. It was a deliberate choice, made at a point where he felt he had accumulated enough diverse, senior experience to add value well beyond the reach of a single organisation.
He has a clear-eyed view of what advisory should and shouldn’t be. His own experience as a purchaser of consulting services left him with a settled view: transactional, methodology-first engagements rarely deliver. What organisations actually need is someone who understands the context, asks the right questions, and works alongside them rather than presenting a pre-built solution.
That philosophy is foundational to how The Strategic Step Advisory operates. Greg and his colleagues describe their offer not as consulting, but as trusted advisory — earned through credibility, delivered through genuine engagement, and measured by outcomes rather than deliverables.
Areas of Focus
Greg’s current advisory work spans four main areas:
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Helping directors and executive teams understand what effective oversight of health, safety and wellbeing looks like, and what questions they should be asking their organisations.
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Translating legislative obligations and professional standards into practical governance and operational frameworks suited to the organisation’s actual environment.
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Supporting organisations to close the gap between a well-developed strategic intent and the on-the-ground reality of implementation; understanding where enrolment breaks down and how to rebuild it.
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Individual and small-group coaching for HSW professionals and executives, drawing on diverse industry experience to help people develop the strategic and leadership capabilities that their current roles require.
“A lot of people can get you help. That’s not hard.
What takes longer is building the confidence that someone will actually deliver value, and keep delivering it.”
Working with Greg
Greg works with a small number of boards, executive teams and individuals at any one time. Engagements are shaped by the specific situation, not by a standardised service offering.
If you’re looking for a thinking partner with genuine senior experience in high-stakes, complex environments, Greg is available for an initial conversation.
Greg is based in Melbourne and is available to connect in person or online.
Connect with Greg on LinkedIn or book a meeting below.