Texas

Running a small business, I am somewhat familiar with certain business regulations and IRS rules that, without purpose, waste resources and time. With that said, knowing nothing about the law just passed, this doesn't feel like where I'd start looking to make things more efficient. This doesn't feel like low-hanging fruit.

Excerpts from the article:

• Water breaks are better solved by OSHA controls, argued Geoffrey Tahuahua, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas. Tahuahua believes local rules impose a rigid scheme that, unlike OSHA guidelines, does not allow the flexibility needed to tailor breaks to individual job site conditions.

• “They try to make one size fits all, and that is not how it should work,” he said. “These ordinances just add confusion and encourage people to do the minimum instead of doing the right thing.”

• Michaels pointed out that OSHA does not have a national standard for heat-related illnesses and issues citations only for over-exposure to heat after an injury or death, but not before that occurs.

The principle of one-size-fits-all being a bad idea is fine. Makes sense. However, I don't see how that applies to a water break. They seem to want to substitute a reactive approach to safety for a proactive approach, without any data collection efforts to measure which is more effective.