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Texas is under federal OSHA jurisdiction which covers most private sector workers within the state. State and local government workers are not covered by federal OSHA.
Underground facilities
The Texas Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act (Tex. Business Organizations Code §§ 251.001 through 251.203) requires excavators to give notice of proposed excavation to the Texas Underground Facility Notice Corporation. This allows the corporation to give notice to underground facility operators so that they can mark their undergound facilities in the area of the proposed excavation to avoid damage, interruption of service, and excavation worker injury.
The Act does not apply to a contractor working in the public right-of-way under a contract with the Texas Department of Transportation or excavation by an employee of the Texas Department of Transportation on a segment of the state highway system if the excavation is more than 10 feet from the right-of-way line.
Trench excavations
The bid documents, if bids are used, and the contract for a construction project in Texas (including a project for a political subdivision) on which a contractor is employed and that includes a trench excavation exceeding a depth of five feet must include:
- A reference to the OSHA standards for trench safety that will be in effect during the period of construction of the project;
- A copy of special shoring requirements, if any, of the state or of a political subdivision in which the construction project is located, with a separate pay item for the special shoring requirements;
- A copy of any geotechnical information that was obtained by the owner for use in the design of the trench safety system; and
- A separate pay item for trench excavation safety protection. The separate pay item for trench excavation safety protection must be based on the linear feet of trench excavated.
The separate pay item for special shoring requirements, if any, of the state or of any political subdivision in which the construction project is located must be based on the square feet of shoring used.