Well, the separation is not that big is it? It would be silly to state that the dot from a 499 mW laser is always perfectly safe to look at, while that of a 501 mW laser never is.
The class-4 boundary was set at the point where laser beams generally become a fire hazard, it doesnt have much to do with eye safety at this point anymore (we passed that when going over 5 mW long ago).
As for doing actual measurements on the power of reflections: kudos! Provided the sensitive size of the meter is as large or larger than the pupil and it can detect 1 mW, this does prove a point. Just to see what happens with glossy things: try bouncing the beam of a regular window into the meter and see what reading you get... that should be a few percent of the laser power.