Contractors, is that truck you drive and use for work paid for by the customer?
Going through the profit and loss of a contractor client recently we discovered that the contractor was not charging for the use of his truck for job related tasks.

Residential contractor business owners wear numerous hats running their business every day/week/month. You do your best trying to complete the necessary tasks on a timely basis to run your business. However, if you are like most owners you have a love and a passion for one or two of the hats you wear. You focus on the work under these hats first and then if time allows you proceed to the next hat(s).

Fall protection safety on contractors' job sites is improved when tool box talks are regularly scheduled. The time invested in brief job site meetings leads to:

Contractors in the residential construction industry are starting to see OSHA more frequently on their job sites as a result of targeted industry status.  The big focus for most OSHA enforcement officersis fall hazards on residential job sites. We are also starting to see a focus on training workers.

RRP fines were published this week by the EPA for 17 companies, 3 in New Hampshire. Enforcement appears to be coming back for the spring season.

OSHA's new 2014 budget proposal requests more money for the whistleblower program while decreasing money for the educational outreach effort. OSHA says it needs more money to hire whistle blower enforcement officers to handle a backlog of complaints from workers. OSHA expects that there will be an increase in whistleblower complaints as a result of there stepped up efforts to encourage workers to report on their employers for unsafe work conditions.

A frustrated contractor called this afternoon and said he was in a hole and would like help to get out. We spoke for a while and I remember speaking with him last year about the same issue. It appears that the hole he dug for himself last year is now deeper. 

Contractors are seeing material costs escalate at an alarming rate. A local Mass Lumber yard told us they have seen costs escalate over 25% since the January, 2013. They expect to see more increases before the end of 2013. Just compare your material slips from last November to now.