[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12355-12356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5897]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR 1218-0229 (2004)


Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(e)(1)(i) 
and (e)(1)(ii)); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's 
(OMB) Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB 
approval of the information collection requirements contained in the 
Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217(e)(1)(i) and 
(e)(1)(ii)). The purpose of these requirements is to reduce employees' 
risk of death or serious injury by ensuring that employers maintain the 
mechanical power presses used by the employees in safe operating 
condition.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by the following dates:
    Hard Copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) 
by May 17, 2004.
    Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be 
received by May 17, 2004.

ADDRESSES: I. Submission of Comments.
    Regular mail, express delivery, hand delivery, and messenger 
service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket 
Office, Docket No. ICR 1218-0229 (2004), Room N-2625, U.S. Department 
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. OSHA 
Docket Office and Department of Labor hours of operation are 8:15 a.m. 
to 4:45 p.m., e.s.t.
    Facsimile: If your comments, including any attachments, are 10 
pages or fewer, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 
693-1648. You must include the docket number, ICR 1218-0229 (2004), in 
your comments.
    Electronic: You may submit comments, but not attachments, through 
the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov/.
    II. Obtaining Copies of the Supporting Statement for the 
Information Collection Request. The Supporting Statement for the 
Information Collection Request (ICR) is available for downloading from 
OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov. The complete ICR, containing 
the OMB Form 83-I, Supporting Statement, and attachments, is available 
for inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office, at the address 
listed above. A printed copy of the ICR can be obtained by contacting 
Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Standards 
and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3609, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
2222.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Submission of Comments on This Notice and Internet Access to 
Comments and Submissions

    You may submit comments in response to this document by (1) hard 
copy, (2) fax transmission (facsimile), or (3) electronically through 
the OSHA webpage. Please note you cannot attach materials such as 
studies or journal articles to electronic comments. If you have 
additional materials, you must submit three copies of them to the OSHA 
Docket Office at the address above. The additional materials must 
clearly identify your electronic comments by name, date, subject and 
docket number so we can attach them to your receipt comments. Because 
of security related problems there may be

[[Page 12356]]

a significant delay in the receipt of comments by regular mail. Please 
contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 for information about 
security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by express 
delivery, hand delivery and messenger service.

II. 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 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 (the Act) authorized 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 Standard specifies several paperwork requirements. The 
following sections describe who uses the information collected under 
each requirement, as well as how they use it.
    Paragraph (e)(1)(i) of Sec.  1910.217 requires employers to 
establish and follow a program of periodic and regular inspections of 
power presses to ensure that all their parts, auxiliary equipment, and 
safeguards are in safe operating condition and adjustment. Employers 
must maintain a certification record of inspections that includes the 
date of inspection, the signature of the person who performed the 
inspection, and the serial number, or other identifier, of the power 
press that was inspected.
    Paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of Sec.  1910.217 requires employers to 
inspect and test each press no less than weekly to determine the 
condition of the clutch/brake mechanism, antirepeat feature, and 
single-stroke mechanism. Employers must perform and completer necessary 
maintenance or repair or both before the press is operated. In 
addition, employers must maintain a record of inspections, tests, and 
maintenance work. The record must include the date of the inspection, 
test, or maintenance; the signature of the person who performed the 
inspection, test, or maintenance; and the serial number, or other 
identifier, of the press that was inspected, tested, or maintained.
    The certification records required in 29 CFR 1910.217(e)(1)(i) and 
(e)(1)(ii) are necessary to ensure compliance with the requirement to 
inspect mechanical power presses. The inspection of mechanical power 
presses is critical to ensuring that employers maintain the presses in 
safe operating condition for employees. These records also provide the 
most efficient means for the compliance officers to determine that an 
employer is complying with the Standard.

III. 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.

IV. Proposed Actions

    OSHA is proposing to extend the information collections 
requirements in the Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 
1910.217(e)(1)(i) and (e)(1)(ii)). The Agency 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 currently approved information 
collection requirements.
    Title: Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 
1910.217(e)(1)(i) and (e)(1)(ii)).
    OMB Number: 1218-0229.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; State, local or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 295,000.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: Monthly, Weekly.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from 2 minutes (.03 hour) to 
disclose certification records to 20 minutes (.33 hour) to inspect the 
parts, auxiliary equipment, and safeguards of each mechanical power 
press.
    Total Annual Hours Requested: 1,373,178.

V. 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. 5-2002 (67 FR 65008).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on March 10, 2004.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 04-5897 Filed 3-15-04; 8:45 am]
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