Unlike the "big guys" — commercial
and public works contractors —
small residential contractors don't
always make safety a high-profile
issue. Few have formal safety programs
or policies, and training is
often a mixed bag of site pragmatism
and trade tradition. Still, many small
contractors work safely.
To gauge their attitudes toward
safety and their strategies for achieving
it, we surveyed JLC readers on a
broad range of safety topics. Most of
those who responded listed themselves
as builders (23%), remodelers
(24%), or builder/remodelers (33%).
Nearly two-thirds checked residential
as their primary market, with 7%
in the commercial area, and 29%
doing both.
These contractors have anywhere
from 1 to 130 employees, although
90% employ eight or less. Of these,
65% have three