5. KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN

It’s inevitable that the introduction of new safety requirements will meet some level of resistance.

Start to get people involved by thinking carefully about how to make the story engaging, and delivering it in a creative manner can go a long way in getting buy in.

Give workers the space to ask questions and get used to the idea. Let them observe how tasks should be done and come to agreement about how they will do the work every single day.

Once you set the agenda, stick to it. If you really want staff to believe you, keep communicating a consistent message so they know that priorities won’t be constantly changing.

Investigate how you could make it easier for workers to report concerns, and ask them to provide input. This might be through focus groups, a suggestion box - or even a hotline to the CEO.

This is exactly what Paul O’Neill, CEO of Alcoa did following a serious workplace accident, with a surprising effect. "Workers started calling, but they didn't want to talk about accidents," O'Neill told me. "They wanted to talk about all these other great ideas."

Establishing chains of communication up through the business can allow not only safety concerns to be addressed, but other business improvements to be identified offering additional productivity and profitability benefits.

Make sure you keep in touch if they do get injured to monitor their health, and look for ways to encourage a gentle and progressive return to work.