[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50455-50456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24699]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0242(2001)]


Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks; 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 comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA requests comments on its proposal to increase the burden-
hour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-
information requirements specified by the Standard on Powered 
Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).\1\ This standard contains several 
information-collection requirements addressing truck design, 
construction, and modification, as well as training certification for 
truck operators. These requirements ensure that the trucks are in 
proper working order and that truck operators have the requisite 
skills, knowledge, and ability to operate them safely.
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    \1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements 
contained in this standard, 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-1218-0242(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 Powered Industrial Trucks 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

[[Page 50456]]

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 paperwork requirements in paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(6) of 
the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks (the ``Standard'') specify 
that employers must place a marker (e.g., label) on an approved truck 
indicating that a national testing laboratory accepted its design and 
construction,\2\ and must obtain the manufacturer's written approval 
before modifying a truck in a manner that affects its capacity and safe 
operation. If the manufacturer grants such approval, the employer must 
revise capacity, operation, and maintenance instruction plates, tags, 
and decals accordingly. For front-end attachments not installed by the 
manufacturer, employers must provide a marker that identifies the 
attachment, as well as the weight of both the truck and the attachment 
when the attachment is at maximum elevation with a laterally center 
load. Employers also must ensure that any marker required by these 
provisions remains affixed to trucks and is legible.
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    \2\ A national testing laboratory evaluates a truck's electrical 
system for fire safety.
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    Paragraphs (l)(1) through (l)(6) of the Standard contain the 
paperwork requirements necessary to certify the training provided to a 
truck operator. These paragraphs specify the duties and qualifications 
of training supervisors, program content, requirement for operator 
evaluation, conditions for refresher training, and operator 
certification.
    Requiring markers notifies employees of the conditions under which 
they can safely operate the trucks, thereby preventing such hazards as 
fires and explosions caused by poorly designed electrical systems, 
rollovers/tipovers that result from exceeding a truck's stability 
characteristics, and falling loads that occur when loads exceed the 
lifting capacities of attachments. The training-certification 
requirement ensures the employer will know that an employee received 
the training necessary to operate a truck within its capacity and 
control limitations; this record also provides the most efficient means 
for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that an employer performed 
the required training. Therefore, by ensuring that employees operate 
only trucks that are in proper working order, and do so safely, 
employers prevent severe injury and death to truck operators and other 
employees who are in the vicinity of the trucks.

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 is proposing to increase the existing burden-hour estimate 
for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information 
requirements specified by the Standard. In this regard, the Agency is 
requesting to increase the current burden-hour estimate from 543,860 
hours to 813,963 hours, a total increase 270,103 of hours. This 
adjustment occurred largely because OSHA is accounting for paperwork 
requirements in the Standard not included in the previous ICR, and 
because the number of operators requiring initial training, evaluation, 
and certification increased substantially. The Agency will summarize 
the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include 
this summary in its request to OMB to extend its approval of these 
information-collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approval information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).
    OMB Number: 1218-0242.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 4,400,000.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; annually; triennially.
    Average Time per Response: Ranges from two minutes ((.03 hour) to 
mark an approved truck to 6.50 hours to train new truck operators.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 813,963.
    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 27, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-24699 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]
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