The Safety Consultant Podcast

You’ve got the business name. You’ve got the legal setup. You’ve started thinking through your niche.
Now comes the part many new consultants miss:
How do people actually find you?
In this episode of The Safety Consultant Podcast, Sheldon continues the 2026 business startup series by walking safety professionals through practical networking strategies that can help them start building real consulting opportunities.
This is not theory. This is the “go make something happen” part of the business.
If you are an EHS professional, safety manager, trainer, OSHA compliance specialist, or future safety consultant, this episode gives you practical places to start building your network before you leave your job, while you are still testing your niche, or while you are trying to land your next client.
What This Episode Covers
In Part 1 of the series, Sheldon covered getting your business legal and structured.
In Part 2, he talked about finding a profitable niche.
In Part 3, he focuses on where to network and find consulting opportunities, including:
Using Upwork to find project-based consulting work
Signing up with Yellowbird as a safety professional
Building relationships through LinkedIn groups
Networking inside Facebook safety groups
Partnering with your local safety council
Using training events to build credibility and attract future clients
Proving your consulting concept before leaving your full-time job
Why This Matters
A safety consulting business does not grow just because you know OSHA standards.
It grows because people know what you do, trust that you can help them, and can find you when they need your expertise.
That means you need more than technical knowledge.
You need a network.
This episode shows you how to start spreading that web in a smart, practical way so you can begin turning your safety experience into business opportunities.
Featured Resources Mentioned
Sheldon discusses several places safety consultants can use to start finding opportunities and building relationships:
Upwork
A freelance platform where you can bid on safety, training, writing, compliance, and consulting projects.
Yellowbird
A platform designed to connect safety professionals with companies needing EHS support.
LinkedIn Groups
A strong place to build visibility, answer questions, and connect with safety professionals and potential clients.
Facebook Groups
Including Sheldon’s Safety Consultant group, where safety officers and consultants can network and share opportunities.
Local Safety Councils
A powerful local networking option where you may be able to offer training, partner on events, or connect with organizations needing help.
Who Should Listen
This episode is especially helpful for:
Safety professionals thinking about becoming consultants
EHS managers wanting a side income
OSHA trainers looking for more business opportunities
New consultants trying to find their first clients
Experienced safety pros who need a better networking strategy
Consultants who want to build visibility without spamming people online
Key Takeaway
Your network can become your first business development system.
But the goal is not to spam people.
The goal is to show up, participate, answer questions, build trust, and let people see that you are the person who can help solve their safety and compliance problems.
As Sheldon says, this is about taking action right now.

In this episode of The Safety Consultant podcast, Sheldon continues his series on what he would do if he were starting a safety consulting business today.
This week’s focus is one of the most important early business decisions you can make: finding your niche.
Sheldon breaks down how to identify the work you already do well, the topics people naturally come to you for, and the services that can create real income as you grow your consulting practice. He also explains why it helps to have more than one niche or revenue stream while you build momentum.
If you are a safety professional, EHS leader, trainer, or aspiring consultant trying to figure out how to turn your experience into a business, this episode will help you think more strategically about where you fit in the market.

In this episode, Sheldon Primus kicks off a new series for safety professionals ready to start a consulting business in 2026. Part 1 focuses on the foundation: choosing a business name, securing your domain, setting up business email, getting insurance, understanding the value of a DUNS number, opening a bank account, and preparing to accept payments. Before you chase clients, build the business structure that helps you look professional, operate legally, and get paid.

In Part 3 of this Safety Champions series, Sheldon Primus wraps up the conversation by focusing on the practical question many safety leaders are asking: How do you actually get ready for OSHA’s Safety Champions Program? In this episode, he walks through what readiness looks like at each stage and explains the program’s 3-step structure as building the foundation, making the safety management system operable, and proving the system is sustainable and improving over time.
Sheldon breaks down how organizations can begin by securing leadership commitment, creating written policies, assigning safety responsibilities, surveying workers, identifying hazards, establishing controls, building training plans, evaluating OSHA logs and injury records, and coordinating with contractors. He then explains what it takes to move into the intermediate and advanced stages, where organizations show that the program is functioning, improving, and becoming part of the way the business operates.
This episode is ideal for safety professionals, consultants, and business leaders who want to understand what OSHA readiness really looks like and how to move from compliance-only thinking into a stronger safety and health management system. Sheldon also invites listeners to take the next step through his Safety Champion Readiness Workshop, where he helps attendees work through the framework in a live virtual format.

In Part 2 of this Safety Champions series, Sheldon Primus moves beyond the introduction and breaks down how OSHA’s Safety Champions Program can help organizations build a stronger, more connected safety and health system. He explains that while SHARP and VPP are designed for organizations already operating at a higher level of safety maturity, the Safety Champions Program is meant to help employers start earlier and build step by step. 
In this episode, Sheldon walks listeners through OSHA’s seven core elements of a strong safety and health program: management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and control, education and training, program evaluation and improvement, and communication and coordination for host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies. He explains how each element strengthens the overall system and helps move safety from disconnected activities into a more complete safety management approach. 
He also connects the framework to concepts like ISO 45001, leading and lagging indicators, worker trust, JSAs/JHAs, hierarchy of controls, learning teams, and contractor management, showing how the Safety Champions approach can become a real operational advantage rather than just another initiative. 
This episode is for safety professionals, consultants, and leaders who want to understand not just what the program is, but how it can help improve the way an organization leads, communicates, trains, evaluates, and reduces risk.