[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7447-7449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3041]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. S-048]


Logging Operations

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

ACTION: Final rule; partial stay of enforcement.

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SUMMARY: On October 12, 1994, the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA) issued a new standard for logging operations (59 
FR 51672). This notice stays enforcement of the following paragraphs of 
Sec. 1910.266 until August 9, 1995: (d)(1)(v) insofar as it requires 
foot protection to be chain-saw resistant; (d)(1)(vii) insofar as it 
requires face protection; (d)(2)(iii) for first-aid kits that contain 
all the items listed in Appendix A; (f)(2)(iv); (f)(2)(xi); (f)(3)(ii); 
(f)(3)(vii); (f)(3)(viii); (f)(7)(ii) insofar as it requires that 
parking brakes be able to stop the machine; (g)(1) and (g)(2) insofar 
as they require inspection and maintenance of employee-owned vehicles; 
and (h)(2)(vii) insofar as it precludes backcuts at the level of the 
horizontal cut of the undercut when the Humboldt cutting method is 
used.

DATES: Effective on February 9, 1995. The partial stay will expires on 
August 9, 1995. The remaining requirements of Sec. 1910.266 are 
unaffected by this document and will go into effect as scheduled on 
February 9, 1995, or as otherwise provided in the Final Rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Anne Cyr, Office of Information 
and Consumer Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
Room N-3637, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 219-8148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 12, 1994, OSHA issued a final 
rule governing worker safety in logging operations. Among other things, 
this rule included requirements for: personal protective equipment; 
first aid kits at logging work sites; machine stability and slope 
limitations; discharge of hydraulic and pneumatic storage devices on 
forestry machines; protective structures on machines; machine braking 
systems; vehicle inspection and maintenance; and tree harvesting. 
Several parties have raised questions about certain aspects of these 
requirements. After considering their questions, the Agency has 
determined that a six-month delay in the effective date of some of the 
provisions is appropriate in order to allow time for it to clarify 
language in the regulatory text so that it most adequately expresses 
its intent with respect to some of these provisions, and to provide 
additional information on other provisions.

Stay of Enforcement of Certain Provisions of Sec. 1910.266

    Paragraph (d)(1)(v)--Foot protection. The final logging standard 
requires [[Page 7448]] employees to wear foot protection, such as 
heavy-duty logging boots, that among other things, protect against 
``penetration by chain saws.'' Some interested persons have 
misinterpreted this provision to require steel-toed boots, although the 
preamble to the final rule explained that the rule does not require 
steel-toed boots.
    OSHA has decided to grant a six-month delay in the effective date 
of the portion of this provision that requires that foot protection be 
chain-saw resistant. (The remaining requirements of the foot protection 
provision will go into effect as scheduled on February 9.) This delay 
will enable OSHA to review the logging community requirements on 
available foot protection, including many types of heavy-duty leather 
logging boots currently used, kevlar boots, and foot coverings that 
provide adequate chain saw resistance. Finally, this delay will allow 
greater availability of new products that manufacturers are developing 
in response to the standard.
    Paragraph (d)(1)(vii)--Eye and face protection. The logging 
standard requires loggers to wear eye and face protection meeting the 
requirements of OSHA's general personal protection equipment (PPE) 
standards when there is a potential for injury due to falling or flying 
objects. Some interested persons have interpreted this provision to 
require both eye and face protection in all cases.
    OSHA has decided to grant a six-month delay in the effective date 
of this provision to the extent that it requires face protection. (The 
current effective date of February 9 will continue to apply to the eye 
protection requirement.) The delay will allow OSHA to clarify what the 
standard requires, and to better inform employers about available face 
protection that does not limit worker vision.
    Paragraph (d)(2)(iii)--Annual approval of first-aid kits by a 
health care provider. Paragraph (d)(2) states that employers mut 
provide and maintain adequate first-aid kits at each worksite, and that 
the number and contents of the kits must be reviewed annually by a 
health care provider. Some interested persons have interpreted the 
standard to require that a doctor inspect each kit annually.
    OSHA has decided to grant a six-month delay in the effective date 
of the provision requiring annual health care provider review. The 
requirement that first-aid kits contain at least the items listed in 
Appendix A (paragraph (d)(2)(ii)) will go into effect as scheduled on 
February 9, 1995. During this period, OSHA will revise the statutory 
language to clarify its original intent.
    Paragraph (f)(2)(iv)--Slope limitations on machine operation. This 
rule states that logging machines shall not be operated on any slope 
greater than the maximum slope recommended by the manufacturer. Some 
parties have interpreted this provision to require manufacturers to 
specify maximum slopes that would be applicable in all field 
situations. OSHA is granting a six-month stay of this provision to 
clarify this point.
    Paragraph (f)(2)(xi)--Discharge of stored energy from machine 
hydraulic and pneumatic storage devices. This provision requires that 
pressure or stored energy from hydraulic and pneumatic storage devices 
be discharged after the machine engine is shut down. Some parties have 
interpreted this provision to require discharge of air and water from 
all machine components, even when the presence of air or water pressure 
will not create a hazard for any employee. OSHA is granting a six-month 
delay in order to clarify this point.
    Paragraph (f)(3)(ii)--Machine rollover protective structures. The 
final rule requires that all rollover protective structures (ROPS) be 
installed, tested and maintained in accordance with the Society of 
Automotive Engineers (SAE) J1040, April 1988, performance criteria for 
rollover protective structures (ROPS). OSHA has learned that some 
logging equipment currently in production has not yet been designed to 
meet the 1988 SAE criteria document. OSHA has decided to delay the 
effective date of this requirement for six-months in order to determine 
whether any additional extension may be appropriate.
    Paragraph (f)(3) (vii) and (viii)--Machine operator cab protective 
structures. These provisions require that the lower portion of the 
operator's cab be enclosed with ``solid'' material that will prevent 
objects from entering the cab. Some parties have interpreted this 
provision to encourage the use of materials like steel plating that may 
restrict the operator's field of vision. OSHA is granting a six-month 
delay in the effective date of this provision in order to clarify this 
requirement.
    Paragraph (f)(7)(ii)--Machine braking systems. This provision 
requires that each machine be equipped with ``a secondary braking 
system, such as an emergency brake or a parking brake, which shall be 
effective in stopping the machine and maintaining parking 
performance.'' OSHA has since learned that the terminology used in this 
provision is inconsistent with that used by some manufacturers. These 
manufacturers consider a secondary braking system to be a subsystem of 
the service brake system and that each subsystem should be capable of 
stopping the machine even though the other subsystem fails. The parking 
brake system is not designed to stop the vehicle in motion but rather 
to restrain it once movement has stopped; thus it is not considered a 
secondary system.
    OSHA is granting a six-month delay in this provision only to the 
extent that it requires that parking brakes be able to stop the 
machine. During this period, employers must still assure that each 
machine has a service brake system that is capable of stopping the 
machine and a parking brake system that can hold the machine and its 
maximum load on any slope that the machine is operated. OSHA will 
revise the terminology in this provision to clarify its intent.
    Paragraph (g) (1) and (2)--Inspection and maintenance of employee-
owned vehicles. These provisions require that any vehicle used off 
public roads at logging work sites or to perform any logging operation, 
including employee-owned vehicles, be maintained in a serviceable 
condition. Some parties have interpreted this provision to require 
logging employers to inspect and maintain all vehicles, including those 
employee-owned vehicles that they allow on their logging sites.
    OSHA is granting a six-month delay in the effective date of these 
provisions insofar as they apply to employee-owned vehicles. The 
additional time will enable OSHA to reexamine the record on this issue 
and clarify its intent of the standard.
    Paragraph (h)(2)(vii)--Backcuts. This rule requires that backcuts 
be above the horizontal line of the undercut. OSHA is aware that when 
loggers use the Humboldt cutting method, in which the diagonal cut is 
below the horizontal cut of the undercut, the backcut is at the level 
of the horizontal cut. The Agency is granting a six-month delay in the 
effective date of this provision only to the extent that the rule does 
not permit loggers using the Humboldt method to place the backcut at 
the level of the horizontal cut. (OSHA emphasizes that backcuts may 
never be made below the horizontal cut.) OSHA will reexamine the record 
on this issue.

III. Authority

    This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear, 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210. [[Page 7449]] 
    The actions in this document are taken pursuant to sections 4, 6, 
and 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 
655, 657), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 9033), and 29 CFR 
part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC., this 2nd day of February, 1995.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

    For the reasons set forth above, 29 CFR part 1910 is hereby amended 
as follows:

PART 1910--[AMENDED]

    1. The Authority citation for subpart R of 29 CFR part 1910 
continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 
(36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), or 1-90 (55 FR 
9033), as applicable.

    Sections 1910.261, 1910.262, 1910.265, 1910.266, 1910.267, 
1910.268, 1910.272, 1910.274, and 1910.275 also issued under 29 CFR 
part 1911.
    Section 1910.272 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553.

    2. A note is added at the end of Sec. 1910.266, to read as follows:


Sec. 1910.266  Logging operations.

* * * * *
    Note: In the Federal Register of February 8, 1995, OSHA stayed 
the following paragraphs of Sec. 1910.266 from February 9, 1995 
until August 9, 1995:

    1. (d)(1)(v) insofar as it requires foot protection to be chain-
saw resistant.
    2. (d)(1)(vii) insofar as it requires face protection.
    3. (d)(2)(iii).
    4. (f)(2)(iv).
    5. (f)(2)(xi).
    6. (f)(3)(ii).
    7. (f)(3)(vii).
    8. (f)(3)(viii).
    9. (f)(7)(ii) insofar as it requires that parking brakes be able 
to stop the machine.
    10. (g)(1) and (g)(2) insofar as they require inspection and 
maintenance of employee-owned vehicles.
    11. (h)(2)(vii) insofar as it precludes backcuts at the level of 
the horizontal cut of the undercut when the Humboldt cutting method 
is used.

[FR Doc. 95-3041 Filed 2-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M