[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 70056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32501]



[[Page 70056]]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. ICR-1218-0070(2000)]


Reports of Injuries to Employees Operating Mechanical Power 
Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(g)); Extension of the Office of Management and 
Budget's (OMB) Approval of an Information Collection (Paperwork) 
Request

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

ACTION: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning the proposed extension of 
the information collection requirement contained in the standard on 
Mechanical Power Presses (Reports of Injuries to Employees Operating 
Mechanical Power Presses), 29 CFR 1910.217(g).

REQUEST FOR COMMENT: The Agency seeks comments on the following issues:
     Whether the information collection requirements are 
necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;
     The accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (time 
and costs) of the information collection requirements, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     The quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply; 
for example, by using automated, electronic, mechanical, and other 
technological information and transmission collection techniques.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 14, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0070(2000), Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2350. Commenters may 
transmit written comments of 10 pages or less in length by facsimile to 
(202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety 
Standards Programs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Room N-3605, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's 
Information Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the 
information collection requirement contained in the standard on 
Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(g)) is available for 
inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or mailed on request by 
telephoning Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Barbara Bielaski at (202) 
693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the 
Internet at Http://www.osha.gov/comp-links.html, and click on 
``Information Collection Requests''.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation 
program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information 
collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and costs) 
is minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information collection burden is correct.
    The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) authorizes 
information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for 
enforcement of the Act or for developing information regarding the 
causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and 
accidents. (29 U.S.C. 657.) In the event an employee is injured while 
operating a mechanical power press, 29 CFR 1910.217(g) requires the 
employer to provide information to OSHA regarding the accident within 
30 days of the accident. This information includes the employer's and 
employee's names, workplace address, injury sustained, task being 
performed when the injury occurred, number of operators involved, cause 
of the accident, type of clutch and safeguard(s) used, and means used 
to actuate the press.
    OSHA's Office of Electrical, Electronic, and Mechanical Engineering 
Safety Standards collects and reviews the accident information for the 
purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of the Mechanical Power Press 
Standard. The accident information also is forwarded to the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for analysis and 
compilation of an epidemiology data base on point-of-operation 
injuries. In addition, OSHA's Office of Compliance Programs is 
conducting a national emphasis program aimed at reducing the number and 
severity of power press injuries. It needs the accident information 
provided in these reports to evaluate the types of injuries that occur, 
and to identify the equipment and conditions associated with these 
injuries.
    In summary, as production evolves and new technologies arise (or 
old ones decline), it is necessary to have up-to-date accident 
information. This information is useful in revising the standard, 
planning enforcement strategies, and training compliance officers, as 
well as for developing hazard alerts that address exceptionally 
hazardous equipment or operations.

II. Proposed Actions

    OSHA proposes to decrease its earlier estimate of 57 burden hours 
to 41 burden hours for this provision (29 CFR 1910.217(g)), which 
contains the information collection requirement in the standard on 
Mechanical Power Presses. OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in 
response to this notice, and will include this summary in the request 
to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirement 
contained in the above standard.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information 
collection requirement.
    Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
    Title: Reports of Injuries to Employees Operating Mechanical Power 
Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(g)).
    OMB Number: 1218-0700.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; state, local or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 123.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: 20 minutes (0.33 hour).
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 41.

III. Authority and Signature

    Charles N. Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice. The 
authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3506), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 6-96 (62 FR 111).

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 9th day of December 1999.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 99-32501 Filed 12-14-99; 8:45 am]
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