[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64062-64063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30577]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0143(2002)]


Standard on Presence Sensing Device Initiation; Extension of the 
Office of Management and Budget's Approval of Information-Collection 
Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA requests comment on its proposal to extend OMB approval 
of the information-collection requirements contained in its Standard on 
Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI) (29 CFR 1910.217(h)). This 
standard regulates the use of presence-sensing devices (``PSDs'') in 
mechanical power-press safety systems; a PSD (e.g., a photoelectric 
field or curtain) automatically stops the stroke of a mechanical power 
press when the device detects an operator entering a danger zone near 
the press. Accordingly, the standard protects employees from serious 
crush injuries, amputations, and death.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 11, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0143(2002), 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 
Standard on Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI) (29 CFR 
1910.217(h)) 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, contract 
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.
    A number of paragraphs in OSHA's Standard on Presence Sensing 
Device Initiation (PSDI) (29 CFR 1910.217(h)) (the ``Standard'') 
contain paperwork requirements. These requirements include: Certifying 
brake-monitor adjustments, alternatives to photoelectric PSDs, safety-
system design and installation, and employee training; annual 
recertification of safety systems; establishing and maintaining the 
original certification and validation records, as well as the most 
recent recertification and revalidation records; affixing labels to 
test rods and to certified and recertified presses; and notifying an 
OSHA-recognized third-party validation organization when a safety 
system component fails, the employer modifies the safety system, or a 
point-of-operation injury occurs. In addition, Appendix A of 
Sec. 1910.217 provides detailed information and procedures required to 
meet the certification/validation provisions, as well as the design 
requirements, contained in the Standard. Accordingly, Appendix A 
supplements and explains the certification/validation provisions of the 
PSDI Standard, and does not specify new or additional paperwork 
requirements for employers. Appendix C Sec. 1910.217 describes the 
requirements and procedures for obtaining OSHA recognition as a third-
party validation organization; therefore the paperwork requirements 
specified by this appendix do not impose burden hours or cost directly 
on employers who use PSDs.
    By complying with these paperwork requirements, employers ensure 
that PSDI-equipped mechanical power presses are in safe working order, 
thereby preventing severe injury and death to press operators and other 
employees who work near this equipment. In addition, these records 
provide the most efficient means for an OSHA compliance officer to 
determine that an employer performed the requirements and that the 
equipment is safe.

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 extend OMB approval of the information-
collection requirements specified by the Standard even though the 
Agency can attribute no burden hours and cost to these requirements. In 
previous ICRs, OSHA estimated that each year employers would convert 
1,988 mechanical presses to PSDI operation, and that manufacturers 
would produce an additional 250 new presses using PSDI (for an annual 
total of 2,238 presses). However, to date, no such presses appear to be 
in use, either because employers selected other stroke-control devices 
for mechanical power presses, or because no third-party organization is 
available to validate employer and manufacturer certifications that 
their PSDI equipment and practices meet the requirements of the 
Standard. Therefore, the Standard does not currently affect any known 
employer; accordingly, the paperwork requirements currently result in 
no burden hours or cost to employers.
    The Agency believes that efforts by the American National Standards 
Institute (ANSI) to develop a national consensus standard for PSDI may 
increase use of these devices in the near future. The metal-forming 
industry, which is working with ANSI on developing the national 
consensus standard, requested that Agency to retain the Standard. 
Therefore, OSHA is

[[Page 64063]]

proposing that OMB extend its approval of the information-collection 
requirements specified by the Standard so that the Agency can enforce 
these requirements if employers begin using PSDI. This notice provides 
an opportunity for the public to comment on this proposal. The Agency 
will include a summary of these comments as part of its request to OMB 
to approve these paperwork requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently-approved information-
collection requirement.
    Title: Standard on Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI) (29 
CFR 1910.217(h)).
    OMB Number: 1218-0143.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 0.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; annually; other 
(initially).
    Average Time per Response: 0.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 0.
    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 December 5, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-30577 Filed 12-10-01; 8:45 am]
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