[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50454-50455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24653]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0069(2001)]


Commercial Diving-Operations Standards (29 CFR part 1910, subpart 
T); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's Approval of 
Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its request to increase the 
total burden-hour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the 
collection-of-information requirements specified by the Commercial 
Diving-Operations Standards (29 CFR part 1910, subpart T).\1\ These 
standards specify paperwork requirements for equipment and procedures 
that expose employees to hazards associated with diving and diving-
support operations, and that apply to general industry, construction, 
ship repairing, shipbuilding, shipbreaking, and longshoring.
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    \1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements 
contained in these standards, the Agency estimates that the total 
burden hours increased compared to its previous burden-hour 
estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these 
paperwork requirements in any substantive manner, only to increase 
the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.

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DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0069(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 by the 
Commercial-Diving Operations Standards 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 understandable, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct.
    The following provisions of the Commercial-Diving Operations 
Standards (the ``Standards'') contain paperwork requirements: 
Secs. 1910.401(b); 1910.410(a)(3) and (a)(4); 1910.420(a) and (b); 
1910.421(b), (f), and (h); 1910.422(e); 1910.423(b)(1)(ii) through 
(b)(2), (d), and (e); 1910.430(a), (b)(4), (c)(1)(i), (c)(3)(i), 
(f)(3)(ii), and (g)(2); and 1910.440(a)(2) and (b). These provisions 
ensure that employers: Notify OSHA if they deviate from the operational 
requirements of the Standards; train every diver in cardiopulmonary 
resuscitation and first aid, and mixed-gas divers (and those who 
control exposure of divers to mixed-gas breathing conditions) in 
diving-related physics and physiology; develop and make available to 
employees a safe-practices manual; maintain a list of emergency 
telephone or call numbers at the diving location; brief dive-team 
members on diving-related tasks, safety procedures, hazards, and 
revisions to operating procedures; display a code flag ``A'' if diving 
from a surface other than a vessel in navigable waters; develop and 
maintain a depth-time profile for each dive; and instruct divers on 
reporting diving-related illnesses and injuries, and the procedures 
specified for detecting, treating, and preventing these problems.
    The Standards also mandate that employers: Record and maintain 
diving logs that contain required information; investigate, and provide 
a written evaluation of, any incident involving decompression sickness; 
mark diving umbilicals as required; inspect, test, and calibrate 
specified diving equipment; record modifications, repairs, tests, 
calibrations, and maintenance performed on any diving equipment; make a 
record of diving-related injuries and illnesses that result in a diver

[[Page 50455]]

remaining in a hospital for over 24 hours; and establish, and disclose 
to specific parties on request, the written records required by the 
Standard, and maintain these records for delineated periods.
    The Standards' paperwork requirements allow employers to deviate 
from established diving practices and tailor diving operations to 
unusually hazardous diving conditions, and to analyze diving records 
(including hospitalization and treatment records) for information they 
can use to improve diving operations. These requirements are also a 
direct and efficient means for employers to inform dive-team members 
about diving-related hazards, procedures to use in avoiding and 
controlling these hazards, and recognizing and treating diving-related 
illnesses and injuries. Additionally, employers can review equipment 
records to ensure that employees performed the required actions, and 
that the equipment is in safe working order.
    Disclosing the records to employees and their designated 
representatives permits them to identify operational and equipment 
conditions that may contribute to diving accidents or diving-related 
medical conditions. Moreover, the records provide the most efficient 
means for OSHA compliance officers to determine that employers are 
performing the regulatory requirements of the Standards.

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 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 by the Standards. In 
this regard, the Agency is requesting to increase the current burden-
hour estimate from 91,326 hours to 205,248 hours, a total increase of 
113,922 hours. This increase largely occurred because this ICR accounts 
for paperwork requirements in the Standards not included in the 
previous ICR. 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: Commercial-Diving Operations Standards (29 CFR part 1910, 
subpart T).
    OMB Number: 1218-0069.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 3,000.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; annually.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from one minute (.02 hour) to 
retain a specified record to two hours to provide OSHA with written 
notification regarding deviations from regulatory requirements.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 205,248.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.

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 21, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-24653 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M