According to an article titled “Steps in Safety Strategy: The Gap Analysis & Implementation Plan” by Thomas Krause, the first steps to developing a workplace safety strategy involves building a foundation for the change required and developing the knowledge and emotional commitment of the organization’s leaders through a communications and governance structure.  Once these steps are established, it is necessary to develop an implementation plan that bridges the gap between where a company stands now and where it wants to be.

In order to implement a workplace safety strategy, one must gain an understanding of the current state of safety within the organization and identify gaps between what is and what should be.  To identify the current state of an organization, it is important to assess the workplace safety culture.  Organizations that score higher on cultural objectives, such as management credibility, procedural justice and leader-member exchange, have a statistically lower rate of workplace injuries.

After an assessment is complete and the gaps between the current state and the desired state are revealed, the organization can design an intervention.  The ideal outcome is to create an organization where safety has a predominant position.  Among other objectives, safety should routinely appear in the business plan and budget.  Safety performance should have a role in all operational decisions such as hiring, compensation and advancement and employees should understand that safety is part of their job.