Overview
Texas. Occupational Safety Division.
Administrative
records
1967-1979
Types of records
include correspondence, memos, copies of federal laws and regulations,
committee testimony, and speeches. Records consist of correspondence and
subject files from the Occupational Safety Division of the Texas Department of
Health and its director, Walter G. Martin. Records date from 1967 to 1979. Much
of the correspondence concerns questions about the existence and enforcement of
state safety regulations. Other correspondence is related to the compliance of
state safety standards in 1975 to the regulations of the U.S. Department of
Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
3 cubic ft.
English.
Restrictions on Access
None.
Restrictions on Use
None.
Preferred Citation
Administrative records, Occupational Safety Division, Texas
Department of Health. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State
Library and Archives Commission.
Agency History
The Occupational Safety Division, Texas Department of Health, was
created by the Occupational Safety Act, H.B. 559, 60th Legislature, 1967.
Primary purposes of the Act were to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses
and lower workers compensation costs. The Act also created an Occupational
Safety Board to administer the Division. The Board employed a state safety
engineer as executive director of the Division. Walter G. Martin was hired as
the state safety engineer and held that position from 1967 to 1984.
Activities of the Occupational Safety Division originally included
enforcement of safety codes, inspection of job sites, and conducting an annual
survey of occupational injuries and illnesses. The passage of Public Law
91-596, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 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. The Texas Occupational Safety Board and the Occupational
Safety Division worked out a compliance plan with OSHA in 1975 that reconciled
existing state safety standards with the new federal standards. The Division
contracted with OSHA to provided free, on-site inspections for OSHA standards
to Texas employers. The Division continued to conduct its annual occupational
injury and illness surveys. In 1985, the Occupational Safety Board was
abolished by H.B. 2091, 69th Legislature. The functions and administration of
the Occupational Safety Division were absorbed by the Texas Department of
Health.
Scope and Contents of the Records
Types of records include correspondence, memos, copies of federal laws
and regulations, committee testimony, and speeches. Records consist of
correspondence and subject files from the Occupational Safety Division of the
Texas Department of Health and its director, Walter G. Martin. Records date
from 1967 to1979. Much of the correspondence concerns questions about the
existence and enforcement of state safety regulations. Other correspondence is
related to the compliance of state safety standards in 1975 to the regulations
of the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA). Correspondents include governors of Texas, state senators and
representatives, AFL-CIO officials, and federal OSHA administrators. The
subject files document the relationship between OSHA and the Occupational
Safety Division and include testimony from hearings held before the Texas House
of Representatives Committee on Labor, development of the Texas plan for
compliance with OSHA, and speeches by Texas government officials and labor
union officers on the impact of OSHA.
To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily
reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to
provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
Organization of the Records
Records are divided into correspondence and subject files. The
correspondence is subdivided into general and alphabetical correspondence. The
general correspondence is arranged chronologically. The alphabetical
correspondence only covers E-O; there are gaps from A-D and P-Z. The subject
files are unorganized.
Index Terms
The terms listed here were used to catalog the
records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records.
Corporate Names:
United States.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Subjects:
Industrial safety--Texas.
Industrial
hygiene--Texas.
Safety
regulations--Texas.
Document Types:
Correspondence--Texas--Industrial safety--1967-1979.
Testimony--Texas--Industrial safety--1967-1979.
Speeches--Texas--Industrial safety--1967-1979.
Functions:
Enforcing safety
regulations.
Related Material
The following materials are offered as
possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by
the records. The listing is not exhaustive.
Texas State
Archives
Texas Department of Health, Occupational Safety Board,
Records, 1967-1984, 3.6 cubic ft.
Workers Compensation Commission, Records, 1961-1988, 2 cubic
ft.
Workers Compensation Commission, Minutes, 1994-2001, 2.31
cubic ft.
Industrial Accident Board, Records, 1913-1956, 30 linear
ft., 2 in.
Processing Information
Paul B. Beck, July 1993
Accession Information
Accession number: 1993/152
These records were transferred to the Texas State Archives by the
Texas Department of Health, via the State and Local Records Management Division
of the State Library, on April 20, 1993.
Detailed Description of the Records
Administrative records,
1967-1979,
3 cubic ft.
Correspondence
1993/152-1
General Correspondence:
1993/152-1
1979
1993/152-1
1978
1993/152-1
1977
1993/152-1
1976
1993/152-1
1975
1993/152-1
Correspondence re: O.S. (Occupational Safety)
Consultative Program:
1993/152-1
1975
1993/152-1
1976
1993/152-1
Governor and Executive Department Correspondence,
1967-1979
1993/152-1
Bureau of Environmental and Consumer Health
Protection,
1975-1979
1993/152-1
Experience Rating Correspondence,
1979
1993/152-1
Health, Education, &Welfare - U.S. Department of,
1968-1970
1993/152-1
G.R. Herzik (Deputy Commissioner for Environmental
Health, Texas Department of Health),
1968-1974
1993/152-1
Hoisting Equipment,
1975-1977
1993/152-1
H.B. 203,
1971
1993/152-1
Harry Hubbard, Capitol Station,
1968
1993/152-1
Industrial Accident Board,
1968-1970
1993/152-1
Interagency Contracts:
1993/152-1
Industrial Accident Board,
1975
1993/152-1
University of Texas - Bureau of Business Research,
1979
1993/152-1
Texas A & M University,
1980
1993/152-1
Department of Corrections,
1975
1993/152-1
Water Development Board,
1976
1993/152-1
Department of Community Affairs,
1975
1993/152-1
International Correspondence,
1969
1993/152-1
Interoffice Correspondence,
1968-1974
1993/152-2
Joint Advisory Committee on Government Operations,
1976
1993/152-2
Junior College Safety Programs,
1975-1977
1993/152-2
Lease - Austin,
1971-1983
1993/152-2
Legal Opinions,
1968-1971
1993/152-2
Monorail Transportation System Correspondence, (El
Paso),
1974
1993/152-2
McFadden, E.C. (Chairman, Texas Occupational Safety
Board),
1968-1974
1993/152-2
Newspaper Advertisements/Press Releases,
1967-1971
1993/152-2
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
1974
1993/152-2
Occupational Health,
1970-1979
1993/152-2
Occupational Health and Radiation Control Division,
1971-1979
1993/152-2
Occupational Health Inspection Reports,
1974-1975
1993/152-2
Occupational Health Literature,
1972
1993/152-2
Occupational Safety Board:
1993/152-2
Correspondence,
1967-1979
1993/152-2
Minutes,
1967-1979
Subject Files
1993/152-3
U.S. Department of Labor/OSHA Subject Files,
1970-1975:
1993/152-3
Texas House of Representatives Labor Subcommittee
Hearing,
October 1974
1993/152-3
Copies of Occupational Safety and Health Act, P.L.
91-596, and amendments
1993/152-3
Correspondence with state and federal
officials
1993/152-3
Speeches
1993/152-3
Texas Plan for Occupational Safety and
Health