[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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