SECTION 114.6. Safety Program Requirements

To qualify as an effective safety program under Texas Labor Code §407.061(d), an applicant's safety program must include the following components at a minimum:

(1) A management component that includes:

(A) a clearly written safety policy distributed to all employees;

(B) a written assignment of safety responsibilities and delegation of authority which includes oversight of implementation of the safety program and the authority to communicate directly with the employer's top management regarding health and safety issues;

(C) a method of receiving, evaluating, and responding to employee input regarding workplace health and safety; and

(D) a process to ensure review and revision of the safety program when changes in processes, procedures, operations, or equipment are implemented or anticipated, to ensure continued effectiveness of the safety program.

(2) An analysis component that:

(A) facilitates the recognition of injury and illness trends, and

(B) facilitates the focus of corrective action on identified trends.

(3) A records component that requires documentation of:

(A) analysis results and any consequent improvement effort or corrective action;

(B) safety-related employee training, including the training topic and date trained;

(C) internal or external safety audits or inspections of facilities, equipment, practices, and procedures;

(D) accident investigations;

(E) safety committee meeting minutes, if such a committee is present in the workplace; and

(F) any other safety-related records deemed appropriate by the applicant.

(4) A safety-training component that provides employees with initial and recurring training on all topics required to perform assigned duties safely.

(5) An audit or inspection component that requires:

(A) periodic inspections of facilities, equipment, and safety-related practices and procedures; and

(B) periodic evaluation and monitoring of industrial hygiene exposures.

(6) An accident investigation component that focuses on the identification and mitigation of causal factors.

Source Note: The provisions of this §114.6 adopted to be effective January 1, 1993, 17 TexReg 7896; amended to be effective May 9, 2004, 29 TexReg 4186; amended to be effective January 6, 2019, 44 TexReg 99