How Do I Find the Safety Hazards in My Small Business?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 17, 2026

The short answer

Walk through every part of your work and write down what could hurt someone: vehicles, tools, ladders, chemicals, electricity, heat, heavy lifting, customers’ homes, and job sites. Rate each risk by how bad and how likely it is, fix the worst ones first, and repeat whenever your work changes. If you have employees, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires a workplace free of serious recognized hazards.

What this means

A hazard is anything at work that could cause injury, illness, or damage. OSHA’s recommended steps are:

Collect what you already know: equipment manuals, safety data sheets, past injuries, insurance loss reports, and what workers tell you.
Inspect the workplace: your shop, vehicles, storage, and the kinds of sites you work at.
Look for health hazards: chemicals, noise, heat, dust, mold, and strain from lifting or repeated motion.
Learn from incidents and near misses (see 11.4.5 Incident Reports).
Think about unusual work: emergencies, storms, rare repairs, and first time tasks.
Rank and fix: by how severe, how likely, and how many people are exposed. Use a short term fix while you work on a permanent one.

Made-up example: Summit Gutter Pros lists its hazards: ladder falls, power lines near roofs, sharp metal, heat in summer, truck backing in driveways, and dogs in yards. Ladder falls and power lines get rated highest. The owner sets a rule that crews look up for lines before setting any ladder, and buys ladder stabilizers.

Why it matters

It’s the law for employers. OSHA requires employers to provide a workplace free of serious recognized hazards and to follow OSHA standards.
Unfound hazards cause the injuries. Most rules on the next pages, like training and protective gear, depend on knowing your hazards first.
Injuries are expensive. They raise workers’ compensation and insurance costs and can stop a small crew cold (see 10.3.7 Workers’ Compensation).
Customer property counts too. A crew that cracks a window or floods a basement creates a claim and a public complaint.

Who this applies to

Any business with employees is covered by the federal OSHA law or a state plan. OSHA says the law does not cover self-employed people with no employees, but the same hazards can still hurt you, your helpers, and customers. Many states run their own OSHA approved plans with extra rules, so check your state.

How to do it

List every task your business does, from the office to the job site to the drive between.
For each task, list what could go wrong. Ask the people who do the work. They know the risks best.
Rate each hazard high, medium, or low, based on how bad it would be and how often it could happen.
Pick a fix for each one. Remove the hazard if you can, then use safer equipment, then rules and training, and protective gear last.
Assign an owner and a date for each fix.
Check job sites before work starts, since customer homes and businesses bring new hazards every time.
Review the list at least once a year, after any incident or near miss, and before adding a new service, tool, or chemical.
Use free help. OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program gives small businesses free, confidential safety advice, separate from enforcement.

What proof to keep

Your written hazard list with ratings, fixes, owners, and dates
Dated inspection checklists and photos
Notes from worker input
Records of fixes made
Any consultation reports

Store these in a shared safety folder (see 12.2 Shared Files).

Common mistakes

Only looking at the shop and forgetting vehicles and customer sites.
Writing the list once and never updating it.
Not asking workers, who often know about risks the owner never sees.
Jumping to protective gear instead of removing the hazard first.
Ignoring near misses. A near miss is a free warning.
Forgetting the office: cords, lifting boxes, and blocked exits are hazards too.

When to get help from a pro

Safety consultant or OSHA consultation: if your work involves heights, chemicals, electricity, confined spaces, or heavy equipment. Insurance agent: many carriers offer safety resources. Questions to ask:

Which OSHA standards apply to the work my business does?
Is my state an OSHA state plan state with extra rules?
Which hazards on my list should I fix first?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short note. For example, the hazards SiteSmarty has as a mostly digital business, like driving to client sites or long hours at a screen, or a safety lesson you’ve seen a client learn the hard way.]

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: listing SiteSmarty’s tasks and the hazards for each]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: the SiteSmarty hazard list]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

Does OSHA apply to my small business? If you have employees, yes, in nearly every industry. OSHA says self-employed people with no employees aren’t covered.

What counts as a hazard? Anything that could cause injury, illness, or damage: falls, vehicles, tools, chemicals, electricity, heat, noise, lifting, and unsafe sites.

How often should I check for hazards? At least yearly, plus after any incident or near miss and before any change in work, tools, or chemicals.

Is there free help? Yes. OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program offers free, confidential help, mainly for smaller businesses.

Audit check

Question: Does the business have a current written list of hazards, with ratings, fixes, owners, and dates?
Pass looks like: A hazard list reviewed in the last 12 months that covers the shop, vehicles, and job sites, with fixes tracked.
Fail looks like: No list, a list that ignores vehicles or customer sites, or a list with no fixes or dates.
Evidence to collect: Hazard list, inspection checklists, photos, records of fixes.

Where this fits

Do this first: 11.3.9 Comparative Claims, 10.8.1 General Liability Insurance, 10.3.7 Workers' Compensation

Do this next: 11.4.2 Safety Training

Sources

OSHA, "Safety Management: Hazard Identification and Assessment" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, "Employer Responsibilities" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, "Am I covered by OSHA?" (checked October 17, 2026)
OSHA, "On-Site Consultation Program" (checked October 17, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.