[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 178 (Thursday, September 13, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47687-47688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23020]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0075(2001)]


Standard on Fire Brigades; Extension of the Office of Management 
and Budget's Approval of 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 public comment concerning the proposed extension 
of the information-collection requirements contained in the Standard on 
Fire Brigades (29 CFR 1910.156).

DATES: Submit written comments on or before November 13, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket No. ICR-1218-
0075(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 by 
facsimile to: (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety 
Standards Programs, OSHA, U.S. 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 specified in the 
Standard on Fire Brigades 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 and select 
``Information Collection Requests.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. 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 costs) 
is minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The Standard 
imposes the following paperwork requirements on each employer who 
establishes a fire brigade: Write an organizational statement; 
ascertain the fitness of employees with specific medical conditions to 
participate in fire-related operations; and provide appropriate 
training and information to fire-brigade members.
    Although OSHA does not mandate that employers establish fire 
brigades, if they do so, they must comply with the provisions of the 
Standard. The provisions of the Standard, including the paperwork 
requirements, apply to fire brigades, industrial fire departments, and 
private or contract fire departments, but not to airport crash-rescue 
units or forest fire-fighting operations. Paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), 
(c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4) contain the paperwork requirements of the 
Standard.
    Under paragraph (b)(1) of the Standard, employers must develop and 
maintain an organizational statement that establishes the: Existence of 
a fire brigade; the basic organizational structure of the brigade; 
type, amount, and frequency of training provided to brigade members; 
expected number of members in the brigade; and functions that the 
brigade is to perform. This paragraph also specifies that the 
organizational statement must be available for review by employees, 
their designated representatives, and OSHA compliance officers. The 
organizational statement delineates the functions performed by the 
brigade members and, therefore, determines the level of training and 
type of personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for these members 
to perform their assigned functions safely. Making the statement 
available to employees, their designated representatives, and OSHA 
compliance officers ensures that the elements of the statement are 
consistent with the functions performed by the brigade members and the 
occupational hazards they experience, and that employers are providing 
training and PPE appropriate to these functions are hazards.
    To permit an employee with known heart disease, epilepsy, or 
emphysema to participate in fire-brigade emergency activities, 
paragraph (b)(2) of the Standard requires employers to obtain a 
physician's certificate of the employee's fitness to do so. This 
provision provides employers with a direct and efficient means of 
ascertaining whether or not they can safely expose employees with these 
medical conditions to the hazards of fire-related operations.
    Paragraph (c)(1) of the Standard requires employers to provide 
training and education for fire-brigade members commensurate with the 
duties and functions they perform, with brigade leaders and training 
instructors receiving more comprehensive training and education than 
employers provide to the general membership. Under paragraph (c)(2) of 
the Standard, employers must conduct training and education frequently 
enough, but at least annually, to assure that brigade members are able 
to perform their assigned duties and functions satisfactorily and 
safely; employers must provide brigade members who perform interior 
structural fire fighting with educational and training sessions at 
least quarterly. In addition, paragraph (c)(4) specifies that employers 
must: Inform brigade members about special hazards such as storage and 
use of flammable liquids and gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive 
sources, and water-reactive substances that may be present during fires 
and other emergencies; advise brigade members of changes in the special 
hazards; and develop written procedures that describe the actions 
brigade members must take when special hazards are present, and make 
these procedures available in the education and training program and 
for review by the brigade members.
    Providing appropriate training to brigade members at the specified 
frequencies, informing them about special hazards, developing written 
procedures on how to respond to special hazards, and making these 
procedures available for training purposes and review by the members 
enables them to use operational procedures and equipment in a safe 
manner to avoid or control dangerous exposures to fire-related hazards. 
Therefore, the training and information requirements specified by 
paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4) of the Standard prevent serious 
injuries and death among members of fire brigades.

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;
     The accuracy of OSHA'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 or other

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technological information-collection and -transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

    OSHA proposes to increase the existing burden-hour estimate, and to 
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval, of the 
collection-of-information requirements specified in the Standard on 
Fire Brigades (29 CFR 1910.156). OSHA will summarize the comments 
submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in 
its request to OMB to extend the approval of these information-
collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently-approved information-
collection requirement.
    Title: Fire Brigades (29 CFR 1910.156).
    OMB Number: 1218-0075.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institution; Federal government; State, local or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 55,939.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hour) to 2 
hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6.042.

IV. Authority and Signature

    John L. Henshaw, 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 September 7, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-23020 Filed 9-11-01; 8:45 am]
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