[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 5, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34851-34852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-16410]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Part 1960
Basic Program Elements for Federal Employee Occupational Safety
and Health Programs
agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Labor.
action: Final rule.
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summary: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is
amending 29 CFR part 1960 to permit implementation of its multi-
employer worksite policy in the federal sector and to incorporate into
the federal program the medical access provisions for the private
sector set forth at 29 CFR 1910.20.
effective date: July 5, 1995.
for further information contact: Mr. John E. Plummer, Director, Office
of Federal Agency Programs, Room N3112, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210 (202-219-9329).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
(A) Multi-employer Policy
Private sector employers in conventional, one-employer workplaces
are accountable under the Occupational Safety and Health Act for
providing safe working conditions for their employees. In private
sector worksites where the working environment is controlled by more
than one employer, such as in construction or other activities
involving subcontractors, OSHA's long-standing policy has been to hold
multiple employers responsible for the correction of workplace hazards
in appropriate cases. Thus, when safety or health hazards occur on
multi-employer worksites in the private sector, OSHA will issue
citations not only to the employer whose employees were exposed to the
violation, but to other employers such as general contractors or host
employers, who can reasonably be expected to have identified or
corrected the hazard by virtue of their supervisory role over the
worksite.
OSHA's current citation practice for multi-employer operations is
described in the OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM), OSHA
Instruction CPL 2.103 at III-28,29 (1994). OSHA's multi-employer
policy, which has been upheld numerous times by the Occupational Safety
and Health Review Commission and the federal courts, does not confer
special or extraordinary burdens on superintending employers, but
merely recognizes that employers with overall administrative
responsibility for an ongoing project are responsible under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act for taking reasonable steps to
correct, or to require the correction of, hazards of which they could
reasonably be expected to be aware. Moreover, a variety of OSHA safety
and health standards specifically require certain categories of
employer to take reasonable steps to assure the safety of all employees
other than their own. Host employers in refineries and other operations
where chemical process hazards are present are required, for example,
to inform contract employers of hazards and take other administrative
steps to assure safe contractor practices, see 29 CFR 1910.119(h).
Similarly, employers engaged in hazardous waste operations are
required, among other things, to implement programs to assure that
contractor and subcontractor employees are informed of the nature,
level, and degree of exposure likely on the site, see 29 CFR
1910.120(i).
In its role as the lead agency for implementing and reviewing
compliance with Executive Order 12291, ``Federal Agency Safety Programs
and Responsibilities'', and 29 CFR part 1960, Basic Elements for
Federal Employee Occupational Safety and Health Programs, OSHA requires
federal agencies to comply with all occupational safety and health
standards, and, generally, to assume responsibility for worker
protection in a manner comparable to private employers, including
multi-employer worksite responsibility in appropriate circumstances.
However, most multi-employer workplaces in the federal sector involve a
mixed workforce of civil service and private contractor employees.
Under the current wording of 29 CFR part 1960, the safety
responsibilities of a federal agency run only to federal workers, and
employees of federal contractors are specifically excluded, see 29 CFR
1960.1(f). OSHA had no intention when it issued this regulation to
inadvertently limit the compliance responsibilities of federal agencies
in multi-employer worksites; instead, the language in 1960.1(f) was
intended only to assure that contractors on federally-owned or
administered jobsites remain subject to the full range of OSHA
enforcement remedies available in the private sector.
For this reason, the provisions of 29 CFR 1960.1(f) are being
clarified by deleting the language which suggests that federal agencies
are accountable for the safety of federal employees exclusively, while
retaining a provision which makes clear that private contractor remain
subject to private sector enforcement remedies. This change is intended
to ensure that the health and safety responsibilities of federal
agencies on multi-employer worksites are comparable to those of private
employers in comparable circumstances.
(B) Medical Records Access
Section 19 of the OSH Act, Executive Order 12196, and 29 CFR part
1960 require agency heads to implement occupational safety and health
programs consistent with standards promulgated under section 6 of the
OSH Act. Because 29 CFR 1910.20, which regulates employee access to
exposure and medical records, was promulgated pursuant to section 8 of
the OSH Act, under existing regulations it would not be a required
element of an agency program. Therefore, OSHA is amending 29 CFR
1960.66 by adding a new paragraph (f) to make 29 CFR 1910.20 a required
element of federal agency safety and health programs.
Administrative Procedure
The clarification of federal agency safety responsibilities on
multi-employer jobsites has no regulatory effect on private parties,
and applies only to federal agencies. It is, accordingly, a ``rule of
agency procedure or practice'' within the meaning of the Administrative
Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3). Similarly, the requirement
[[Page 34852]]
that federal agency safety programs include procedures for prompt
reporting of certain types of occupational accidents and fatalities
applies only to federal agencies and can fairly be described as a rule
of agency practice or procedure. Accordingly, notice and public comment
are not required, and today's revisions to 29 CFR part 1960 are issued
as a final rule. In addition, today's procedural changes for federal
agencies do not meet the definitions of a ``major rule'' under
Executive Order 12291 and no regulatory impact analysis is required.
Finally, for the reasons stated above, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d) OSHA
finds good cause for making the present modifications to 29 CFR part
1960 effective immediately upon publication.
Authority: This document was prepared under the direction of Mr.
Joseph A. Dear, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety
and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210.
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 19 and 24 of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1609, 1614; 29 U.S.C. 668,
673), 5 U.S.C. 553, Secretary of Labor's Order No, 1-90 (55 FR 9033)
and Executive Order 12196, 29 CFR part 1960 is revised to include
medical reporting requirements and multi-employer worksite
responsibilities comparable to those applicable to private sector
employers.
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1960
Government employees, Occupational safety and health, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Signed at Washington, DC this 28th day of June, 1995.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 1960 of chapter
XVII of title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended to read
as follows:
PART 1960--BASIC PROGRAM ELEMENTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS
1. The authority citation for part 1960 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Sections 19 and 24 of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1609, 1614; 29 U.S.C. 668, 673), 5
U.S.C. 553, Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 9033), and
Executive Order 12196.
2. Section 1960.1 is amended by revising paragraph (f) to read as
follows:
Sec. 1960.1 Purpose and scope.
* * * * *
(f) No provision of the Executive Order or this part shall be
construed in any manner to relieve any private employer, including
Federal contractors, or their employees of any rights or
responsibilities under the provisions of the Act, including compliance
activities conducted by the Department of Labor or other appropriate
authority.
* * * * *
3. Section 1960.66 is amended by adding a new paragraph (f) to read
as follows:
Sec. 1960.66 Purpose, scope and general provisions.
* * * * *
(f) Retention and access of employee record shall be in accordance
with 29 CFR 1910.20.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 95-16410 Filed 7-3 -95; 8:45 am]
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