[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29596-29598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13688]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0206(2001)]


Standard on Grain Handling Facilities; Extension of the Office of 
Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of an Information-Collection 
(Paperwork) Requirements

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 requirements contained in the Standard on 
Grain Handling Facilities, 29 CFR 1910.272.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before July 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0206(2001), OSHA, 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, OSHA, U.S.

[[Page 29597]]

Department of Labor, Room N-3609, 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 collections contained in the Standard on Grain Handling 
Facilities is available for inspection and copying in the Docket 
Office, or by requesting a copy from Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or 
Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR contact 
OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/comp-links.html and select 
``Information Collection Requests.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the public 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 cost) 
is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of the 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).
    The following table describes the paperwork requirements specified 
for employers by the Standard on Grain Handling Facilities 
(Sec. 1910.272; the ``Standard''), as well as the safety and health 
purpose served by each of these requirements.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Safety and health
         Paragraph          Paperwork requirement         purpose
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(d).......................  Develop and implement  Provides employees
                             an emergency-action    with information
                             plan.                  regarding the
                                                    appropriate actions
                                                    to take in an
                                                    emergency.
(e)(1)....................  Provide employee       Ensures that
                             training at least      employees can
                             annually and after a   identify and control
                             job reassignment       the hazards
                             that exposes an        associated with
                             employee to new        their job tasks and
                             hazards.               work areas,
                                                    especially ignition
                                                    sources for fire or
                                                    explosions involving
                                                    accumulations of
                                                    fugitive grain dust.
(f)(1), (f)(2)............  Issue a written        To alert the employer
                             permit for hot work    to take appropriate
                             certifying that the    safety precautions
                             employer implemented   before activating an
                             the requirements of    ignition source,
                             Sec.  1910.252(a)      thereby preventing
                             prior to beginning     ignition of
                             hot-work operations;   accumulated fugitive
                             maintain the           grain dust.
                             certificate until
                             completing the hot-
                             work operation.
(g)(1)(i).................  Issue a permit before  To alert the employer
                             an employee enters a   and other employees
                             bin, silo, or tank     of a planned entry
                             unless the employer    into a grain-storage
                             or employer's          structure so they
                             representative is      can take the actions
                             present during the     necessary to control
                             entire entry           hazards in the
                             operation. The         structure; these
                             permit must certify    actions include
                             that the employer      deactivating
                             implemented the        equipment that could
                             precautions            impact, crush,
                             specified in Sec.      electrocute, or
                             1910.272(g) prior to   suffocate (e.g.,
                             beginning the entry    through grain
                             operation. Maintain    release) the
                             the permit until       employee who is
                             completing the entry   entering the
                             operation.             structure.
(g)(1)(ii)................  Deenergize and then    Tags inform the
                             disconnect, lockout    employer and other
                             and tag, block off,    employees that they
                             or use another         must not reactivate
                             equally effective      the tagged
                             means or method to     equipment, thereby
                             prevent the            preventing death or
                             operation of           serious injury that
                             mechanical,            may occur to the
                             electrical,            employee who is
                             hydraulic, or          working inside the
                             pneumatic equipment    grain-storage
                             that present a         structure.
                             danger to employees
                             inside a grain-
                             storage structure.
(i)(1), (i)(2)............  Inform contractors     Allows contractors
                             performing work at a   and their employees
                             grain-handling         to identify and
                             facility of known      control fire and
                             potential fire and     explosion hazards
                             explosion hazards      associated with
                             related to the         their job tasks and
                             contractor's work      work areas, and
                             and work area, and     provides them with
                             the applicable         information
                             safety rules of the    regarding the
                             facility and           appropriate actions
                             provisions of the      to take in an
                             emergency-action       emergency.
                             plan.
(j)(1)....................  Develop and implement  Prevents the fire and
                             a written              explosion hazards
                             housekeeping program   that result from
                             that establishes the   excessive
                             frequency and          accumulations of
                             method(s) determined   fugitive grain dust.
                             to best reduce
                             accumulations of
                             fugitive grain dust
                             on ledges, floors,
                             equipment, and other
                             surfaces exposed to
                             the dust.
(m)(1)....................  Implement preventive   Controls the release
                             maintenance            of sparks and other
                             procedures             ignition products
                             addressing:            from equipment used
                             Regularly scheduled    to process grain,
                             inspections of         thereby preventing
                             mechanical and         ignition of
                             safety-control         accumulated fugitive
                             equipment associated   grain dust.
                             with dryers, grain-
                             stream processing
                             equipment, dust-
                             collection equipment
                             (including filter
                             collectors), and
                             bucket elevators;
                             and lubrication and
                             necessary and
                             appropriate
                             maintenance.
(m)(3)....................  Provide and maintain   Identifies
                             written                malfunctioning
                             certification of       equipment that
                             each inspection,       requires repair and
                             including the date     maintenance; it also
                             of the inspection,     provides both
                             the individual who     employers and
                             conducted the          employees with
                             inspection, and the    assurance that
                             identifier for each    equipment used in
                             piece of equipment     grain-handling
                             inspected.             operations is in
                                                    safe working order
                                                    and will not serve
                                                    as an ignition
                                                    source.
(m)(4)....................  Implement lockout-     Using standardized
                             tagout procedures to   and safe procedures
                             prevent inadvertent    ensures proper
                             application of         deactivation and
                             energy or motion to    reactivation of
                             equipment that an      grain-handling
                             employee is            equipment while an
                             repairing,             employee is working
                             servicing, or          on it, thereby
                             adjusting.             preventing death or
                                                    serious injury to
                                                    the employee.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
     Whether the proposed information-collection requirements 
are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;

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     The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and 
cost) 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 or other technological information-
collection and -transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

    OSHA is requesting to extend OMB approval of the collection-of-
information requirements specified by the Standard. The Agency will 
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will 
include this summary in its request to OMB to extend approval of these 
information-collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Grain Handling Facilities.
    OMB Number: 1218-0206.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; State, local or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 23,770.
    Frequency of Response: Monthly; annually.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from 2 minutes (.03 hours) to 
affix a tag to deenergized equipment to 1 hour to revise and emergency-
action plan, housekeeping program, or lockout-tagout procedures.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 136,781.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): None.

IV. Authority and Signature

    R. Davis Layne, Acting 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) and Secretary of Labor's Order No.
3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on May 25, 2001.
R. Davis Layne,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-13688 Filed 5-30-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M