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
