OSHA is receiving a budget cut in fiscal year 2019 as part of a bill proposed in June by the House Appropriation Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. OSHA will receive a small decrease in its budget – $3.7 million dollars. This is unfortunate, because OSHA is the first line of defense for Texas injured employees. OSHA rules and regulations are important for Texas manufacturers, warehouses, and machine shop operators to follow. If OSHA rules and regulations are not enforced, then Texas employers might use that as an opportunity to give short shrift to employees safety.
Many employers in Texas carry worker’s compensation insurance. However, Texas law is such that, if an employer chooses not to carry worker’s compensation insurance, the employer waives a number of defenses to lawsuits and/or arbitration proceedings against it in the event an employee is injured in a work accident. Arbitration is a proceeding which occurs outside of the courthouse, and an injured Texas employee will not be entitled to a judge or a jury. Many Texas employers have chosen to require arbitration of work injury cases, with the hope that an arbitrator, as opposed to a jury, would provide a much lower award for an injured worker.
