The Safety Consultant Podcast

📉 Navigating a Slow Economy: How to Keep Your Safety Consulting Business Thriving
When the economy slows down, corporate budgets freeze, and external contracts are often the first to face scrutiny. But a slow market doesn't mean your safety consulting pipeline has to dry up.
In this episode of the Safety Consultant Podcast, host Sheldon Primus breaks down exactly how to pivot your business strategy to thrive in a down market.
🔍 What you’ll learn in this stream:
The Shifting Mindset of Corporate Buyers: Understand how risk aversion and cash flow panic change how companies hire.
Reframing Your Value: How to speak the language of CFOs, sell ROI, and shift to "fractional" or modular safety services.
Leaning Out Your Expenses: Practical, actionable ways to audit your tech stack, minimize travel overhead, and stay highly profitable between clients.
🚀 Business Resources Mentioned:
Grab your Recession-Proof Consulting Framework: safetyconsultantblueprint.com
Take the Readiness Assessment for One-on-One Coaching: sheldon.coach
Don't just survive the downturn—learn how to build a resilient, recession-proof consulting business. Hit play and let's get started!

🎧 Unburdening the Safety Pro: Mental Health & Moving Beyond the "Stress Junkie" Labels with Jorge Torres
Welcome back to the Safety Consultant Podcast! In this episode, Sheldon sits down with Jorge Torres, also known as The Bilingual Safety Guy, for a vulnerable and vital conversation about the "business of being human" in the safety industry.
Jorge shares his powerful journey from working as an on-site paramedic to becoming a seasoned safety consultant and speaker. But this isn't just a career retrospective—it's a deep dive into Jorge’s book, The Unburdened: 5 Honest Lessons from a Recovering Stress Junkie. We explore why safety professionals, who are often the "empathetic implementers" of mental health initiatives for others, so frequently neglect their own well-being.
🔍 Key Episode Takeaways:
Admitting the Problem: Why acknowledging "it’s okay not to be okay" is the first step toward reclaiming your health.
The Eisenhower Matrix: How to use this classic tool to regain control of your time and stop living in "hair-on-fire" mode.
The Multitasking Myth: Jorge breaks down the "biological improbability" of multitasking and why focusing on one thing at a time actually makes you a better consultant.
"I Am Not My Job": Re-framing your identity beyond the safety vest to show up better for your family and yourself.
The Family Impact: A candid look at how unmanaged professional stress bleeds into our most important relationships.
🚀 Business Resources:
Ready to Grow? If you’re a safety pro looking to transition into consulting, take the Consultant Readiness Audit at sheldon.coach.
Get the Book: Pick up your copy of The Unburdened on Amazon to start your own 5-lesson workshop.

🎧 The Future of OSHA: Unboxing the 2027 Budget & What It Means for You

Welcome back to the Safety Consultant Podcast! In this episode, I'm braving the cold Canadian wind (and dodging some very cute chipmunks) to bring you a live look at OSHA's FY 2027 Congressional Budget Justification. 
Why are we looking at a budget? Because you can always tell what is truly important to a government agency by where they spend their money. Grab your coffee and join me as we unbox this budget and map out exactly how you can keep your clients regulatory-safe in 2027! 

🔍 Key Episode Takeaways
The Shift in OSHA Standards: OSHA is actively moving toward deregulation, reducing standard-setting full-time equivalent hours (FTEs) from 72 down to 44. Because of this shift, you shouldn't expect many new standards to be released in 2027. Instead, the agency will focus on publishing guidance products and creating plain language revisions of current regulations. Major proposed rules, like the heat stress standard, will likely remain in a holding pattern. 
Enforcement Isn't Disappearing, It's Changing: Don't believe the rumors that OSHA enforcement is stopping. The budget reveals that a massive 70 to 80% of initiated inspections will be unprogrammed. This means OSHA will be heavily focused on responding to formal worker complaints, fatalities, amputations, and hospitalizations. 
Programmed Inspections: The remaining 20 to 30% of inspections will be programmed, primarily focusing on National Emphasis Programs and targeted high-hazard workplaces. 
Construction Remains a Primary Target: The construction industry is definitely not exempt from enforcement. OSHA plans to conduct 11,240 planned construction inspections in FY 2027. They will be heavily targeting sites with high probable hazards, specifically zeroing in on the Focus Four: falls, electrical, standby, and caught-in hazards. 
The Truth About Training Grants: Once again, the requested budget for the Susan Harwood Training grants is set at zero. However, Congress historically funds these programs anyway, so if you rely on this material for your non-profit, don't panic—it will likely still be there. 
🚀 Promotions & Business Resources
June Strategy Promotion: Since it's National Safety Month in the US, I'm offering a special bonus! If you purchase the updated Safety Consultant 101 course at safetyconsultantblueprint.com during the month of June, I am going to give you a free 30-minute strategy session to talk over your goals and get you steered in the right direction. https://safetyconsultantblueprint.com/ 
Live Online Workshop: Join me this August for a 2-hour live online workshop. We are going to dive deep into mindset issues, starting your business, and defining what your clients and services look like. Sign up at sheldonprimus.com/events. 
One-on-One Coaching: Are you ready for professional coaching to get unstuck? Head over to sheldon.coach and take the Readiness Assessment to get started. If we're a good fit, I'll offer you three days of free introductory coaching chats to map out your goals before we create a custom agreement. 
Until next time, stay safe, stay savvy, and keep consulting like a boss. Go get 'em!

Unlock the power of the OSHA data and statistics resource page to help you find clients, value your services, and set you apart from competitors. Sheldon uses this tool for many clever ways to get true context on a hazard and who can benefit from your services.

In Part 4 of our "Starting a New Business" series on the Safety Consultant Show, we are wrapping things up by talking about credentials. You don't need every letter in the alphabet behind your name to be successful, but you do need the right ones.
Here are a few key takeaways from today’s episode:
🎯 Match your certs to your niche: Don't just guess. Look at what potential clients in your specific industry (like construction or oil & gas) are actively asking for in their job listings and get those exact credentials.
🎓 Degrees vs. Certificates: A Bachelor's or Master's degree in EHS will always carry the most weight, but if college isn't an option, programs like the COSS (Certified Occupational Safety Specialist) or COSM provide incredible value based on your real-world experience—no degree required!.
🦺 The OSHA 10 & 30 Advantage: Becoming an authorized OSHA 10 and 30-hour instructor (through the OSHA 501 or 500 train-the-trainer courses) is one of the best ways to gain local recognition and instantly open up new revenue streams.
If you are ready to take your safety experience and turn it into a profitable consulting business, this episode is a must-listen.