Monday Apr 21, 2025

Episode 14: Safety & Certifications with Sheila Smeltzer

Safety training isn’t box‑checking—it’s profit, people, and peace of mind. Host Sid Graef interviews Sheila Smeltzer (President, A+ Pro Services and former IWCA president) about building a bullet‑proof safety culture for home‑service firms. Sheila explains why OSHA 1910 rules matter, how a single four‑foot drop can cost six‑figure fines, and why ladder incidents alone send 200,000+ workers to the ER every year. Her framework is simple:

  1. Know the law. OSHA 1910 Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (PPE) govern most field work.

  2. Use qualified trainers. Hire or outsource a qualified person who can certify employees and document everything.

  3. Systemize it. Flag hazards in your CRM (e.g., ServiceTitan), create written Job Hazard Analyses and Safety Work Plans, and re‑train annually.

  4. Document or it didn’t happen. Clear, signed records slash liability and keep crews—and profits—intact.

The takeaway: a documented, repeatable safety program protects lives and margins better than any marketing hack.

Show Notes

References & Links Mentioned

Resources

Transcript

SID GRAEF: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it’s Sid Graef here. The Huge Insider is the show for home‑service professionals who are striving to break the million‑dollar revenue mark. If that’s you, you’re in the right place, and if you’re already over a million dollars of revenue, congratulations—you’re going to get even more out of this show.

We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. That’s why we’ve gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven‑ and eight‑figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year—and we’re bringing you the best insights. It’s all focused on one topic each month, and these are real owners. There are no arm‑chair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the people quietly building empires behind the scenes; they’re not on social media looking for attention—they’re in business making things happen.

Last month we focused on hiring A‑players. You can’t build your dream without people, so you’ve got to have the right people. This month we answer the question, What do you do once you hire the right person?—on‑boarding, pay structure, training, and more. And today’s topic is safety training.

You’re about to hear from Sheila Smeltzer. She owns a thriving window‑cleaning business in North Carolina and has been the president of the IWCA—the International Window Cleaning Association. She goes into a lot of detail today about what safety training needs to be successful.

And it’s funny, because most service businesses treat safety training as an afterthought. They make jokes like, “Just be careful—if you fall, you’re going to be fired before you hit the ground.” Safety’s not a joke; it requires planning, diligence, and repetition so that you can keep your people safe, because there really is no window that needs to be cleaned or Christmas light that needs to be hung that’s worth having someone on your team—or yourself—get badly injured or killed.

Sheila’s going to dive into it. Before we do, we’ve got a downloadable action guide for you, and it’s available at The Huge Insider. As always, I’m thankful that you’re here. Get ready to learn from Sheila Smeltzer—let’s get into it.

SHEILA SMELTZER: Hey everyone, this is Sheila Smeltzer, today’s contributor to the Huge Transformation Podcast, and we are talking about a not‑so‑fun topic today, but something that is absolutely crucial to protecting the liability of your company—safety: safety standards, training, and certifications.

Now, this topic is near and dear to my heart. I have served on the board of directors for the International Window Cleaning Association—I’m the immediate past president—and in the window‑cleaning industry we’re working at height, so safety is one of the primary training objectives of an organization like the IWCA.

If you’re in pressure washing, the same goes for the PWNA—the Power Washers of North America. There’s training you can receive that is specific to that industry. I’m sure in the lighting industry, where you’re dealing with electrical, you have organizations—whether formal or not—that deal specifically with safety training.

So it’s very important, number one, that you tap into the resources you have available. But I want to come to you straight from OSHA 1910, General Industry. OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so they’re the holy grail; they enforce safety standards across companies like ours. We have to know them and implement systems, procedures, and training so we follow those standards.

Within OSHA 1910 there are two parts most of us need to know: Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (personal protective equipment). Subpart D covers ladders, manholes, stairways, scaffolding, and rope‑descent systems; Subpart I covers PPE—eye and face, respiratory, head, foot, electrical, hand protection—and some fall protection.

Let’s zoom in on walking‑working surfaces. The general rule is that if you can fall more than four feet, you’re in a fall zone. That rule applies to all industries. On a six‑foot step‑ladder, you’re not supposed to stand above the fourth rung—that’s your four‑foot fall zone. Ladder safety alone accounts for about 20 percent of fatal and lost‑work‑day injuries, more than 200,000 cases and roughly 345 fatalities a year.

Training must be done by a qualified person—defined by OSHA as someone with a recognized degree, certificate, or extensive knowledge who has proven the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the work. If nobody inside your company meets that definition, you need to hire or outsource one. Community colleges, trade schools, local builders’ associations—all are good places to find certified instructors.

The second big piece is documentation. If it isn’t documented, it never happened. Should OSHA investigate after an accident and you can’t produce training records, the fines can hit $60‑70 thousand per citation.

Once you have training and documentation handled, the next step is procedure. Build standard operating procedures into every job:

  1. During bidding or site assessment, identify hazards (uneven ground, roof access, power lines, etc.) and tag the job in your CRM—ServiceTitan lets us add a JHA tag.

  2. For every tagged job, create a Safety Work Plan that spells out how hazards will be mitigated. Example: first‑man‑up ladder transfer, spotter in place, stay six feet from the roof edge while cleaning.

  3. Train on the SOPs, measure compliance, and revisit annually.

There are great software platforms—Safety Advocate by Mike Draper is one—to help with videos, checklists, and documentation.

I could go deep on safety—we could do a whole series—but for today I’ll say this: start small, get trained, document everything, and weave safety into daily operations. If you ever have questions, look me up online; I’m everywhere. Everybody be safe, and thanks for listening. Bye‑bye.

SID GRAEF: Wow—okay. So what did you learn today about safety training, and more importantly, what are you going to do with it? Remember to download the action guide; it has all the basics for building a safety program. Lean on your associations; use AI to summarize; then implement so you can keep your people safe and protect yourself from liability.

Here are more ways to level up your business:

  • Podcasts. Besides this show, check out The Huge Transformation Show for inspirational interviews.

  • Free newsletter. The Huge Insider Weekly Insights hits your inbox every week.

  • Facebook group. Join thousands of owners helping owners.

  • Huge Convention. August 20‑22 in Nashville—tickets at thehugeconvention.com (prices rise May 1).

  • Huge Mastermind. For $1 million‑plus companies with 5+ employees—details on the Freedom Path at thehugeconvention.com.

Got a big win or a painful lesson? Call 804‑600‑4843 and leave a message; we may feature your story.

Don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef; this is the Huge Insider Podcast. We want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace, and we’ll see you next time.

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