Texas. Occupational Safety Board.

The Texas Occupational Safety Board was in existence from 1967 to 1985. It was created by HB 559, the Occupational Safety Act, 60th Legislature, Regular Session, in 1967. The board was charged with adopting and enforcing safety regulations to alleviate dangers to workers and with issuing annual reports concerning industrial accidents and their causes. The Occupational Safety Board consisted of three members: the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Labor and Standards, and one public member appointed by the Governor for a term of two years to serve as chairman.

The Occupational Safety Board administered the Occupational Safety Division within the Texas State Department of Health. The Occupational Safety Division was also created by the Occupational Safety Act of 1967. The board employed a state safety engineer as director of the Occupational Safety Division. Walter G. Martin was hired as the state safety engineer and held that position from 1967 to 1984. In addition, the board appointed a General Advisory Occupational Safety Committee to aid it in promulgating rules for occupational safety codes. The committee was composed of ten representatives of employers, ten representatives of employees, with the state safety engineer acting as chairman. Public hearings were held before the adoption of any rules or amendments to the codes.

Activities of the Occupational Safety Division included enforcement of the safety codes, inspection of job sites, and conducting an annual survey of occupational injuries and illnesses. Regional engineers made safety inspections of firms which owed for workmen's compensation insurance and special investigations were made in cases of catastrophic accidents involving multiple injuries or deaths.

The passage of Public Law 91-596, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, by the U.S. Congress, created a federal system of safety and health standards. These were to be administered by the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the U.S. Department of Labor. In order to avoid dual or conflicting state and federal safety standards, the Texas Occupational Safety Board had to work out a compliance plan with the U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA. By 1975, a plan had been adopted that reconciled existing state safety standards with OSHA's new federal standards. The division also contracted with OSHA to provide free, on-site inspections for OSHA standards, as consultants to Texas employers. Under other contracts with the Department of Labor, the division continued to conduct its annual occupational injury and illness survey among Texas employers to determine the state's injury and illness incidence rates.

In 1985, the Occupational Safety Board was abolished by HB 2091, 69th Texas Legislature, Regular Session. Administrative responsibility for the Occupational Safety Division was absorbed by the Texas Department of Health. The overall functions of the division remained unchanged.

From the guide to the Records, 1967-1984, (Repository Unknown)