Why Small Contractors Get Hurt the Most (And What to Do About It)

Chris Fredette
Jun 10
3 min read

This is Part 3 of Construction Safety in Focus, TriCore Safety's National Safety Month series for June 2026. Part 1 covered the Fatal Four hazards that account for 65% of construction deaths. Part 2 covered what a recordable injury actually costs your business. This post is about where those incidents happen most.

The construction industry is often discussed in terms of major GCs and large commercial projects. But the majority of construction work in the United States is performed by small contractors, crews of two to ten people working residential jobs, specialty trades, and subcontract work on larger projects.

And they get hurt at a rate that is wildly disproportionate to their share of the workforce.

By the Numbers

Firms with fewer than 10 workers account for 57% of all fatal construction injuries
More than 70% of deadly falls occur at small construction firms
Small businesses are far less likely to have a dedicated safety person on staff
Construction accounts for 1 in 5 private-sector workplace deaths despite representing about 8% of the workforce

Why Small Contractors Are Most at Risk

It's not that small contractors care less about safety. In many cases, the owner is also working in the field, which means his own life is on the line too. The problem is structural.

Large GCs have dedicated safety departments, trained competent persons, formal onboarding programs, and written safety plans for every phase of work. Small contractors have none of that by default. The superintendent is also the safety person, the HR department, and the equipment operator. There's no one whose job it is to stop and ask whether the work is being done safely today.

Add financial pressure the margin on small residential and specialty trade work is thin, and slowing down costs money and you get a work environment where hazards get accepted because there's no one empowered to address them and the schedule doesn't allow for it anyway.

The Specific Risks That Hit Small Contractors Hardest

Roofing and ladder work without fall protection systems the leading cause of small contractor fatalities
Trenching without a competent person or protective system in place
Electrical work without proper lockout/tagout procedures
No written hazard communication program for the chemicals on the job
New or temporary workers with no site-specific orientation

What Small Contractors Can Do Without a Safety Department

The OSHA On-Site Consultation Program is the most underused resource in small contractor safety. It's free, confidential, and available in every state. OSHA sends a consultant to your site, identifies hazards, and helps you build a basic safety program, with no citations, no penalties, and no enforcement action. It exists specifically for small businesses.

Beyond that, small contractors don't need a 200-page safety manual. They need a handful of one-page written programs for the hazards specific to their work, a consistent five-minute toolbox talk each morning, OSHA 10-hour cards for every worker, and an owner or foreman who stops the job when something looks wrong. That's a functioning safety program for a crew of six.

Use This as a Toolbox Talk

For small crews, the most effective toolbox talk is also the simplest: walk the job together before work starts and ask two questions. What's the most dangerous thing happening on this site today? And what do we do if someone gets hurt?

Most small crews have never had this conversation in a structured way. The act of stopping and asking out loud, before the hazard hurts someone, is the entire point. You don't need a form. You need five minutes and the willingness to have the conversation.

Key Takeaways

Small firms with fewer than 10 workers account for 57% of fatal construction injuries
Over 70% of deadly falls happen at small sites, roofing and ladder work are the biggest killers
OSHA's free On-Site Consultation Program is available to small businesses in every state with no enforcement consequences
A small crew doesn't need a 200-page manual it needs consistent five-minute talks, OSHA 10 cards, and a foreman willing to stop the job
The structure of small contracting creates the hazard. Awareness and simple systems are the fix

This is Part 3 of the Construction Safety in Focus series. Read Part 1 on the Fatal Four and Part 2 on the Real Cost of a Recordable at tricoresafety.com/blog. Next up in Part 4: Heat Illness Prevention — What Most Sites Still Get Wrong.