Housecleaning and Homecare Businesses: California Safety Duties to Review in 2026
A private residence is a customer’s home, but it can also be your employees’ workplace. Cleaning companies, homecare agencies, and residential landscaping businesses face a particular challenge: the work environment changes from job to job, and the employer may not control every condition. That makes a repeatable assessment and reporting process especially important.
Start by confirming SB 1350 coverage
California’s SB 1350 protections took effect July 1, 2025. Cal/OSHA identifies businesses employing domestic-service workers, including housecleaning companies, homecare agencies, and residential gardening or landscaping businesses, among potentially covered employers. Coverage depends on the employment arrangement and the work performed, not simply on whether the address is residential.
There are statutory exceptions, including publicly funded work such as In-Home Supportive Services and work performed in and for a licensed family day care home. Do not assume every household worker or homeowner is covered in the same way. Review the Cal/OSHA business fact sheet and domestic-service coverage FAQ before deciding which obligations apply.
Make your IIPP usable away from the office
For covered California employers, the Injury and Illness Prevention Program should explain who owns safety, how hazards are assessed and corrected, how employees report concerns, and how training is provided. A binder in the dispatch office does little for a worker who encounters an unsafe condition at a new home.
Give employees a clear way to contact a responsible supervisor and escalate a condition that cannot be safely resolved. Document the response, not just the initial report. Your process should make it clear how work is paused or reassigned when the planned controls are inadequate.
Use a short pre-job assessment
For cleaning crews, review chemical use, ventilation, electrical equipment, slip and trip hazards, step stools or ladders, and lifting. Check product labels and SDS information before introducing a new chemical. Do not let customer-supplied products bypass your chemical-safety process.
For homecare workers, assess the actual tasks: assisting movement, handling equipment, working alone, contact with bodily fluids, or exposure to threatening behavior. Applicable protections depend on those exposures and the setting. A general cleaning checklist will not cover every homecare assignment.
For gardening and landscaping crews, consider outdoor heat, powered tools, vehicle movement, uneven surfaces, and any chemical applications. A residential job is not automatically a low-risk job. Review the standards relevant to the equipment and tasks your employees actually perform.
Train for decisions workers have to make
Use realistic examples: an unlabeled bottle offered by a customer, a blocked exit, an unstable ladder, an aggressive animal, or a lifting task that differs from the assignment. Explain who to call and what to do before exposure occurs. Provide training in a language and vocabulary employees understand and check comprehension rather than only collecting a signature.
Keep records of training, assessments, hazard reports, and corrective actions as required. When the scope changes or a new hazard appears, revisit the assignment and the training. Build that review into scheduling instead of waiting for an annual paperwork update.
Build a consistent system across customer locations
A manageable starting package is a written IIPP, task-specific assessment checklist, employee reporting channel, training matrix, and correction log. Our safety program development guide explains how these pieces fit together. For help tailoring them, explore safety program consulting or take the free safety readiness assessment.
This article provides general guidance. Confirm your business’s coverage and exceptions with the official sources; it does not determine the legal status of an individual household employment arrangement.