The Safety Consultant Podcast

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.

In this first episode of a 3-part series, Sheldon introduces OSHA’s new Safety Champions Program (SCP) and explains how it differs from SHARP and VPP. He frames SCP as a practical, voluntary pathway for organizations that want to start building a stronger safety and health program from the ground up, rather than waiting until they are already operating at a mature recognition-program level. In the episode, Sheldon explains that SCP is built around three phases — Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced — and OSHA’s seven core elements of an effective safety and health program.
Sheldon also highlights how the program uses a tracker and SGE support to help employers document progress and move step by step through the process. He contrasts SCP with SHARP, which is aimed at smaller employers using OSHA consultation, and VPP, which is geared toward mature, high-performing safety systems.
This episode is for safety professionals, consultants, and leaders who are asking:
What’s next for our safety system?
How can we start preparing for OSHA’s new Safety Champions Program?
Sheldon also introduces his upcoming Safety Champion Readiness Workshop, where he’ll spend four hours helping attendees break down the steps, understand the tracker, and build a readiness roadmap.