[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69552-69555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32195]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. NRTL-1-99]


Curtis-Straus LLC., Application for Recognition

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the application of Curtis-Straus LLC. 
for recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) 
under 29 CFR 1910.7, and presents the Agency's preliminary finding. 
This preliminary finding does not constitute an interim or temporary 
approval of this application.

DATES: Comments submitted by interested parties must be received no 
later than February 11, 2000.

ADDRESS: Send comments concerning this notice to: Office of Technical 
Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Room N3653, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard Pasquet, Office of Technical 
Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, at the above 
address, or phone (202) 693-2110.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Application

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hereby 
gives notice that Curtis-Straus LLC. (CSL) has applied for recognition 
as a Nationally

[[Page 69553]]

Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) for testing and certification of 
the equipment or materials and using the site, listed below. CSL has 
also requested recognition to use certain supplemental programs. OSHA 
recognizes an organization as an NRTL, and processes applications 
related to such recognitions, following requirements in Section 1910.7 
of Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (29 CFR 1910.7). Appendix A to 
this section requires that OSHA publish this notice of the preliminary 
finding on an application.
    The current address of the laboratory covered by this application 
is: Curtis-Straus LLC., 527 Great Road, Littleton, Massachusetts 01460.

Background

    According to the application, Curtis-Straus LLC. (CSL) is a limited 
liability company chartered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and 
was established in 1996. CSL states that it offers testing services in 
electrical safety and in a number of other areas. The applicant also 
states that its founders and managers have, in the aggregate, over 
thirty years of technical experience in these areas. The application 
indicates that CSL is privately owned.
    CSL submitted an application for recognition, dated February 9, 
1998 (see Exhibit 2A). In response to requests from OSHA for 
clarification and additional information, CSL amended its application 
in submissions dated June 24, 1998, and August 9, 1999 (see Exhibits 2B 
and 2C). Some documents in these submissions, and part of the original 
application, have been withheld from disclosure under Exemption 4 of 
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Staff of the NRTL Program 
performed an on-site assessment (review) of the Littleton, 
Massachusetts, facility on October 26-29, 1998. In the on-site review 
report, the program staff recommended a ``positive finding.''
    Regarding the merits of the application, the applicant has 
presented documentation that describes how it will operate as an NRTL. 
However, it is an organization that, to date, has not operated a 
product certification program and CSL only recently developed the 
documents for the certification phase of its planned NRTL operations. 
Most of the detailed procedures the applicant plans to follow are 
contained in its Standard Operating Procedures Manual (SOPM), which is 
one of the documents that has been withheld from disclosure under FOIA.
    The four recognition requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 are presented 
below, along with examples that illustrate how CSL has met or plans to 
meet each of these requirements.

Capability

    Section 1910.7(b)(1) states that for each specified item of 
equipment or material to be listed, labeled or accepted, the laboratory 
must have the capability (including proper testing equipment and 
facilities, trained staff, written testing procedures, and calibration 
and quality control programs) to perform appropriate testing.
    The on-site review report indicates that CSL has adequate testing 
equipment and an adequate facility to perform the tests required under 
the test standards for which it seeks recognition. Security measures 
are in place to restrict or control access to their facility, and 
procedures exist on handling of test samples. The report also indicates 
that testing and processing procedures are in place, although some were 
in the process of review and update. CSL has only recently developed 
the testing procedures for the standards for which it seeks 
recognition. It utilizes outside calibration sources and has developed 
procedures for internal calibrations of certain equipment. The 
application indicates that CSL maintains records on testing equipment, 
which include information on repair, routine maintenance, and 
calibrations. The application and on-site review report address 
personnel qualifications and training, and identify CSL staff involved 
with product testing, along with a summary of their education and 
experience. Also, the report indicates that CSL personnel have adequate 
technical knowledge for the work they perform. Moreover, the review 
report indicates that the Quality System Manual (QSM) and SOPM are the 
primary documents for the CSL quality assurance activities. The 
application contains the procedures CSL will utilize for conducting the 
internal audits of its operations.
    The application indicates that CSL has not tested products to all 
requirements of a test standard, and as already mentioned, CSL has just 
developed many of the procedures it will utilize to do such testing. 
Therefore, OSHA has not yet evaluated the actual use of the testing and 
reporting procedures that CSL will utilize for purposes of certifying 
to a complete test standard, and OSHA needs to investigate this aspect 
of CSL's operations when these procedures are in use. Accordingly, OSHA 
plans to include a condition in the recognition notice to provide the 
Agency with the opportunity to make this evaluation.

Control Procedures

    Section 1910.7(b)(2) requires that the NRTL provide certain 
controls and services, to the extent necessary, for the particular 
equipment or material to be listed, labeled, or accepted. They include 
control procedures for identifying the listed or labeled equipment or 
materials, inspections of production runs at factories to assure 
conformance with test standards, and field inspections to monitor and 
assure the proper use of identifying marks or labels.
    The applicant has developed procedures and related documentation 
for initially qualifying a manufacturer under the CSL certification 
program and for performing the required follow-up inspections at a 
manufacturer's facility. CSL has stated in its SOPM that it will 
perform follow-up ``factory inspections at least four times per year.'' 
These inspections will be one part of the activities that the applicant 
will utilize in controlling its certification mark. In its application, 
CSL included evidence of its application for registration of its 
certification mark with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO). 
The USPTO has issued a notice of allowance for this mark.
    According to the on-site review report, CSL has not had a product 
certification program prior to applying for recognition as an OSHA 
NRTL. Staff of the NRTL Program reviewed a number of documents during 
the on-site visit that described the approach CSL would take in 
operating its program. After the visit, CSL finalized more detailed 
procedures, previously mentioned, for qualification and follow-up 
inspection of the manufacturer. CSL also presented procedures to 
establish and modify a ``listing'' of products it has certified and to 
control its mark on these products. Since CSL has just developed its 
NRTL follow-up program, and has not listed or labeled any products 
under these procedures, OSHA has been unable to evaluate the actual use 
of CSL's product certification program. The condition, mentioned above, 
that OSHA plans to include would also provide the Agency with the 
opportunity to make this evaluation. In addition, OSHA is concerned 
about the adequacy of CSL's proposed procedures to control its 
certification mark. As a result, OSHA plans to impose another condition 
to ensure that CSL will adequately control its mark.

[[Page 69554]]

Independence

    Section 1910.7(b)(3) requires that the NRTL be completely 
independent of employers subject to the tested equipment requirements, 
and of any manufacturers or vendors of equipment or materials being 
tested for these purposes.
    In its original application, CSL has stated that there is ``no 
ownership of Curtis-Straus by (organizations that are) manufacturers or 
suppliers of products or components to be tested or certified.'' The 
applicant also states that none of its owners ``works for, or has 
ownership of, or significant interest in'' any such organization. More 
recently, CSL provided a more comprehensive statement of its 
independence from ``suppliers'' (i.e., a manufacturer or distributor) 
and ``major users'' (i.e., employers that make major use) of any 
products that must be certified by an NRTL. The applicant also states 
that its ``conflict of interest policies are in place and . . . 
conflict of interest statements are signed by all personnel.''

Creditable Reports/Complaint Handling

    Section 1910.7(b)(4) provides that an NRTL must maintain effective 
procedures for producing credible findings and reports that are 
objective and without bias, as well as for handling complaints and 
disputes under a fair and reasonable system.
    As previously stated, CSL has only recently developed the 
procedures it will utilize in testing and certifying products. This 
includes the procedures for evaluating and reporting the findings for 
its initial or follow-up testing of products to ensure they conform to 
all requirements of a test standard. The applicant did include examples 
of the kind of reports it will generate. However, as in the case of the 
testing procedures, the evaluation and reporting procedures are new to 
CSL, and OSHA would need to evaluate them when the applicant uses them 
for its NRTL operations. Regarding the handling of complaints and 
disputes, the applicant'' SOPM contains the details on how it will 
handle a complaint it receives from its clients or from the public.

Standards

    CSL seeks recognition for testing and certification of products to 
determine compliance with the following five (5) test standards, and 
OSHA has determined the standards are ``appropriate,'' within the 
meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c):

ANSI/UL 1459  Telephone Equipment
ANSI/UL 1950  Information Technology Equipment Including Electrical 
Business Equipment
UL 2601-1  Medical Electrical Equipment, Part 1: General Requirements 
for Safety
UL 3101-1  Electrical Equipment for Laboratory Use; Part 1: General 
Requirements
UL 3111-1  Electrical Measuring and Test Equipment, Part 1: General 
Requirements

    The designations and titles of the above test standards were 
current at the time of the preparation of this notice.

Programs and Procedures

    Curtis-Straus also seeks to use the supplemental programs listed 
below, based upon the criteria detailed in the March 9, 1995 Federal 
Register notice (60 FR 12980, 3/9/95). This notice lists nine (9) 
programs and procedures (collectively, programs), eight of which 
(called supplemental programs) an NRTL may use to control and audit, 
but not actually to generate, the data relied upon for product 
certification. An NRTL's initial recognition always includes the first 
or basic program, which requires that all product testing and 
evaluation be performed in-house by the NRTL that will certify the 
product. The on-site review report indicates that CSL appears to meet 
the criteria for use of the following supplemental programs for which 
it has applied:

Program 8: Acceptance of product evaluations from organizations that 
function as part of the International Electrotechnical Commission 
Certification Body (IEC-CB) Scheme.
Program 9: Acceptance of services other than testing or evaluation 
performed by subcontractors or agents. (Limitation--recognition covers 
equipment calibration and maintenance services only.)

    CSL does not plan to use Program 9 for purposes of conducting its 
follow-up inspections, which is permitted under this program. 
Accordingly, the Agency plans to include the limitation on the use of 
Program 9, shown above.
    OSHA developed the program descriptions to limit how an NRTL may 
perform certain aspects of its work and to permit the activities 
covered under the programs only when the NRTL meets certain criteria. 
In this sense, they are special conditions that the Agency places on an 
NRTL's recognition. OSHA does not consider these programs in 
determining whether an NRTL meets the requirements for recognition 
under 29 CFR 1910.7. However, OSHA does treat these programs as one of 
the three elements that defines an NRTL's scope of recognition.
    CSL also sought recognition for two other programs, one of which it 
withdrew from consideration. OSHA is not granting recognition for the 
other program at this time. Under this program, an NRTL may use others 
in performing all the testing required for a test standard. However, 
CSL does not have experience in testing and certification to a complete 
standard, and may have less opportunity to develop the required 
experience if it uses others to do these activities. This experience is 
essential for its continued recognition as an NRTL. Finally, OSHA will 
need to review the actual implementation of certain key aspects of 
CSL's operations as an NRTL, which, as already noted, were not yet in 
place when OSHA performed its on-site review of CSL. As a result, CSL 
would have to apply in the future for use of any other programs.

Conditions

    OSHA has concerns about CSL because the Agency has not had the 
opportunity to evaluate the actual testing, evaluation, and reporting 
procedures, and use of the follow-up program, since these have not yet 
been implemented. Many of these procedures and practices will be new to 
CSL. Unless CSL meets a condition imposed by OSHA, it could not be 
recognized as an NRTL under 29 CFR 1910.7. As a result, OSHA plans to 
conditionally recognize CSL subject to a later assessment of the 
detailed procedures and practices once they are in place.
    This approach is consistent with OSHA's past recognition of other 
organizations as NRTLs who, like CSL, were mainly experienced in 
testing products to specific customer or partial test standard 
requirements. OSHA indicated in the Federal Register notice for those 
recognitions that the procedures to be used were new to the 
organization (for example, see 56 FR 28581, 6/21/91; and 58 FR 15511, 
March 23, 1993). OSHA will require CSL to take steps to correct any 
deficiencies that OSHA may find during its initial follow-up review. If 
deficiencies are not corrected, then OSHA will commence its process to 
revoke the recognition of the NRTL.
    In addition, OSHA has concerns about the CSL's ability to 
adequately control its certification mark. CSL plans to monitor use of 
its mark during its follow-up inspections and plans to monitor media to 
check for misuse of its mark. However, its procedures on authorizing 
its labels appear to present the opportunity for a manufacturer to

[[Page 69555]]

label, intentionally or not, products that are not covered under the 
listing agreement with CSL. Under its procedures, CSL gives a 
manufacturer general authorization to use the CSL mark or label on a 
product but does not appear to control the actual marking or labeling 
that the manufacturer would use on a lot or run of production, much 
less on a series of such runs of production.
    CSL's authorization procedure and listing agreement contain 
provisions to prohibit a manufacturer's use of the mark on products 
that are not ``identical to the sample'' CSL has certified. However, 
such proscriptions do not ensure that CSL actually controls its mark on 
a given run of production. As mentioned, CSL does plan to perform 
after-the-fact monitoring of the manufacturer to check for misuse. 
Also, it will take appropriate action if it discovers misuse. However, 
its procedures do not appear effective in trying to initially prevent 
misuse of the mark and, to compound matters, its planned monitoring 
could be ineffective in detecting instances when misuse has occurred, 
especially considering that many thousands of products may be affected. 
Such misuse of labels may have serious consequences for workers who use 
products that they believe are safe, but which turn out to be unsafe 
and which CSL, although well intentioned in its procedures, cannot 
effectively detect. As a result, OSHA also plans to include a condition 
on CSL that it implement, as part of its system for authorization of 
the use of its mark on products, an effective method to ensure that 
only products it has certified carry this mark. If CSL does not meet 
this condition, it would not meet the requirement in 29 CFR 
1910.7(b)(3), under which an NRTL must maintain adequate control 
programs, and could not be recognized as an NRTL.
    Therefore, OSHA intends to impose the following conditions in the 
final notice to officially recognize CSL as an NRTL. These conditions 
apply solely to CSL's operations as an NRTL and solely to those 
products that it certifies for purposes of enabling employers to meet 
OSHA product approval requirements. These conditions would be in 
addition to all other conditions that OSHA normally imposes in its 
recognition of an organization as an NRTL.
    1. Within 30 days of certifying its first products under the NRTL 
Program, CSL will notify the OSHA NRTL Program Director so that OSHA 
may review CSL's implementation of its procedures for testing and 
certification of products covered within the scope of the test 
standards listed above.
    2. As part of its system of authorization or issuance of the use of 
its certification mark, CSL must establish, maintain, and utilize 
proper procedures that ensure its mark is applied only to the specific 
run(s) of production of the products that CSL has certified.

Preliminary Finding

    Curtis-Straus LLC. (CSL) has addressed the requirements that must 
be met for recognition as an NRTL, as summarized above. In addition, 
the NRTL Program staff has performed an on-site review of CSL's 
Littleton, Massachusetts, facility and investigated the processes, 
procedures, practices, and general operations used by the laboratory. 
Discrepancies noted by the review staff during the on-site review were 
addressed by CSL following the on-site evaluation, as detailed above, 
and are included as an integral part of the on-site review report (see 
Exhibit 3).
    Following a review of the complete application file and the on-site 
review report, the NRTL Program staff has concluded that the applicant 
can be granted recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing 
Laboratory for the Littleton, Massachusetts, facility and for the five 
(5) test standards identified above, subject to the conditions and 
limitation described above. The recognition would also include the two 
programs listed above. The staff therefore recommended to the Assistant 
Secretary that the application be preliminarily approved.
    Based upon the recommendation of the staff, the Assistant Secretary 
has made a preliminary finding that Curtis-Straus LLC. can meet the 
recognition requirements, as prescribed by 29 CFR 1910.7, for the 5 
test standards and the facility noted above, with the conditions and 
limitation to be applied as noted.
    OSHA welcomes public comments, in sufficient detail, as to whether 
Curtis-Straus LLC. has met the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 for the 
expansion of its recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing 
Laboratory. Your comment should consist of pertinent written documents 
and exhibits. To consider it, OSHA must receive the comment at the 
address provided above (see ADDRESS), no later than the last date for 
comments (see DATES above). You may obtain or review copies of the CSL 
application, the on-site review report, and all submitted comments, as 
received, by contacting the Docket Office, Room N2625, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, at the 
above address. You should refer to Docket No. NRTL-1-99, the permanent 
record of public information on CSL's recognition.
    The NRTL Program staff will review all timely comments and, after 
resolution of issues raised by these comments, will recommend whether 
to grant the CSL application for recognition. The Assistant Secretary 
will make the final decision on granting the recognition and, in making 
this decision, may undertake other proceedings prescribed in Appendix A 
to 29 CFR 1910.7. OSHA will publish a public notice of this final 
decision in the Federal Register.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 3rd day of December, 1999.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-32195 Filed 12-10-99; 8:45 am]
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