Texas — Workplace Safety

Texas does not operate an OSHA-approved state plan. Federal OSHA has direct jurisdiction over most private sector workers in the state. State and local government workers are not covered by federal OSHA and have no equivalent state-level OSHA protection in Texas.

Source: OSHA State Plans

Texas imposes a statutory duty on covered employers to maintain safe and healthful workplaces under Texas Labor Code § 411.103, which is part of Chapter 411 (Workers' Health and Safety). This state-law obligation operates in parallel with federal OSHA requirements for private-sector employers.

Covered employers

Chapter 411 applies to two categories of employers under Tex. Lab. Code § 411.002:

1. Employers with workers' compensation insurance — Any employer who obtains workers' compensation insurance coverage is subject to Chapter 411, regardless of workforce size.

1. Non-subscriber employers with 5+ employees — An employer who does not carry workers' compensation insurance is subject to Chapter 411 if the employer employs five or more employees who are not exempt from workers' compensation insurance coverage.

Because workers' compensation insurance is elective in Texas (except for certain public employers), many private employers opt not to purchase coverage and are known as "non-subscribers." Non-subscribers with fewer than five non-exempt employees are not subject to Chapter 411's safe-workplace duty, though they remain subject to federal OSHA if they are private-sector employers.

Three-prong duty under § 411.103

Each covered employer must satisfy all three of the following statutory requirements:

1. Provide and maintain reasonably safe and healthful employment and workplace — The employer must ensure that both the employment relationship and the physical place of employment are reasonably safe and healthful for employees.

1. Install, maintain, and use necessary safety methods, processes, devices, and safeguards — This prong requires the employer to adopt methods of sanitation and hygiene and to deploy processes, devices, and safeguards that are "reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of the employer's employees."

1. Take all other reasonably necessary actions — The employer must take any additional actions reasonably necessary to make the employment and place of employment safe. This is a catch-all provision that captures safety measures not enumerated in prongs (1) and (2).

The statute uses the "reasonably necessary" standard throughout, which gives employers some discretion but also requires affirmative steps to identify and mitigate workplace hazards. The obligation is ongoing ("provide and maintain"; "install, maintain, and use").

Relationship to federal OSHA and enforcement

Chapter 411 is a state-law overlay; it does not displace federal OSHA, which retains direct jurisdiction over private-sector employers in Texas because Texas has no OSHA-approved state plan. Section 411.109 provides that Chapter 411 shall be given effect alongside other occupational health and safety laws "to the extent possible."

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation (TDI-DWC) administers Chapter 411. Enforcement mechanisms under Chapter 411 are primarily tied to workers' compensation premium discount programs and safety consultations rather than direct citations and penalties of the type federal OSHA issues. Employers who carry workers' compensation insurance receive accident prevention services from their carriers as part of Chapter 411's framework (Tex. Lab. Code § 411.061).

Chapter 411 also establishes a safety hotline (§ 411.081) and prohibits employer retaliation against employees who report safety violations (§ 411.082), with judicial relief available (§ 411.083).

Exclusion during labor disputes

Section 411.110 carves out an unusual exemption: Chapter 411 does not apply to a workplace while that workplace is subject to picketing, a strike, slowdown, or other work stoppage. The legislature declared that Chapter 411 "may not be used as an issue involved in a labor dispute" or "asserted to advantage in collective bargaining."

Source: Tex. Lab. Code § 411.103 Source: Tex. Lab. Code § 411.002 Source: Tex. Lab. Code § 411.109 Source: Tex. Lab. Code § 411.110