Your responsibility is the safety management system. And to make it work!
Everybody wants to do good, but as soon as you introduce fear, everybody just wants to look good. It is your job in the company to assist the CEO to start from the top and make clear that the company, especially the CEO, wants to improve. He/she should be the living example from which everybody can expect to be treated fairly and justly. The good will be rewarded. The weak will be coached and assisted.
Help your CEO with practical advice about how to ‘walk the talk”! People will hear what the CEO says, but they will LISTEN to what the CEO DOES!