OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations

We continually monitor recent actual OSHA citations in Texas to learn more about what compliance officers look for when conducting OSHA inspections and how it could impact our clients, who are always on the lookout for ways to improve workplace safety and avoid OSHA fines and penalties. In addition to issuing citations for violations of 1910 (General Industry) and 1926 (Construction) standards, OSHA also has a "catchall" called the General Duty Clause which allows compliance officers to issue fines [...]

OSHCON Cannot Manage Your OSHA Compliance This is our next blog post in our series about common OSHA compliance mistakes and misconceptions made by small companies which can lead to major problems. This involves the mistaken idea that OSHCON can somehow manage a company's OSHA compliance.  We routinely hear companies tell us that they utilize OSHCON consulting services, and are therefore compliant and don't need additional help. Companies who make this assumption/mistake put themselves at risk for huge fines and [...]

I routinely hear companies tell us that their insurance company, or Workers Compensation carrier, is managing all of their OSHA compliance requirements. This is a very common and dangerous misconception among small manufacturers and other industrial businesses with many health and safety hazards which put their employees in harms way. I actually have extensive past experience as the owner of an energy contracting business trying to utilize our workers compensation carrier as our primary safety resources.  It was a [...]

Most employers understand that they must manage OSHA safety requirements, but many are unaware of workplace health hazards, how dangerous they can be to their employees, or how to manage them. The following is a basic summary of OSHA industrial hygiene testing requirements designed to help protect employees from exposures to workplace health hazards. In summary, employers must not expose their employees to excessive levels of OSHA listed chemicals and contaminants, nor excessive noise levels. OSHA publishes PELs (permissible exposure [...]

Identifying and Abating Physical Hazards An estimated 20% of all injuries and fatalities are the result of “physical hazards” that exist in the workplace. As a result, identifying and abating these potential hazards should be a top priority for your company. If that isn’t motivation enough, then be aware that physical hazards are the “low hanging fruit” for OSHA enforcement officers and result in the vast majority of fines and penalties when enforcement inspections occur. What are “physical hazards?” Examples [...]