[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 922-923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-158]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

December 22, 2004.
    The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted the following public 
information collection requests (ICRs) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy 
of each ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained 
by contacting Darrin King on 202-693-4129 (this is not a toll-free 
number) or e-mail: [email protected].
    Comments should be sent to Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503, 202-395-7316 (this is not a toll-free number), 
within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal 
Register.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Title: Notice of Alledged Safety and Health Hazards, OSHA-7 Form.
    OMB Number: 1218-0064.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Type of Response: Reporting.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Number of Respondents: 50,955.
    Number of Annual Responses: 50,955.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 17 minutes for electronic submission; 
15 minutes for oral complaints; and 25 minutes for written complaints.
    Total Burden Hours: 13,611.
    Total Annualized Capital/Startup Costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (Operating/Maintaining Systems or Purchasing 
Services): $692.
    Description: Under paragraphs (a) and (c) of 29 CFR 1903.11 
(``Complaints by employers'') employees and their representatives may 
notify the OSHA area director or an OSHA compliance officer of safety 
and health hazards regulated by the Agency that they believe exist in 
their workplaces at any time. These provisions state further that this 
notification must be in writing and ``shall set forth with reasonable 
particularity the grounds for the notice, and shall be signed by the 
employee or representatives of the employee.'' Along with providing 
specific hazard information to the Agency, paragraph (a) permits 
employees/employee representatives to request an inspection of the 
workplace. Paragraph (c) also addresses situations in which employees/
employee representatives may provide the information directly to the 
OSHA compliance officer during an inspection. An employer's former 
employees may also submit complaints to the Agency.
    To address the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (c), especially 
the requirement that the information be in writing, the Agency 
developed the OSHA-7 Form; this form standardized and simplified the 
hazard-reporting process. For paragraph (a), they may complete an OSHA-
7 Form obtained from the Agency's Web site and then send it to OSHA on-
line, or deliver a hardcopy of the form to the OSHA area office by mail 
or facsimile, or by hand. They may also write a letter containing the 
information and hand-deliver it to the area office, or send it by mail 
or facsimile. In addition, they may provide the information orally to 
the OSHA area office or another party (e.g., a Federal safety and 
health committee for Federal employees), in which case the area office 
or other party completes the hardcopy version of the form. For the 
typical situation addressed by paragraph (c), an employee/employee 
representation informs an OSHA compliance officer orally of the alleged 
hazard during an inspection, and the compliance officer then completes 
the hardcopy version of the OSHA-7 Form; occasionally, the employee/
employee representative provides the compliance

[[Page 923]]

officer with the information on the hardcopy version of the OSHA-7 
Form.
    Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Title: Respiratory Protection (29 CFR 1910.134).
    OMB Number: 1218-0099.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Type of Response: Recordkeeping; Reporting; and Third party 
disclosure.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; and State, local, or tribal 
government.
    Number of Respondents: 619,430.
    Number of Annual Responses: 19,136,624.
    Estimated Time Per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to mark a 
storage compartment or protective cover to 8 hours for large employers 
to gather and prepare information to develop a written program.
    Total Burden Hours: 6,334,648.
    Total Annualized Capital/Startup Costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (Operating/Maintaining Systems or Purchasing 
Services): $98,545,304.
    Description: The Respiratory Protection Standard (Sec. 1910.134; 
hereafter, ``Standard'') information collection requirements require 
employers to: Develop a written respirator program; conduct employee 
medical evaluations and provide follow-up medical evaluations to 
determine the employee's ability to use a respirator; provide the 
physician or other licensed health care professional with information 
about the employee's respirator and the conditions under which the 
employee will use the respirator; and administrator fit tests for 
employees who will use negative- or positive-pressure, tight-fitting 
face-pieces. In addition, employers must ensure that employees store 
emergency-use respirators in compartments clearly marked as containing 
emergency-use respirators. For respirators maintained for emergency 
use, employers must label or tag the respirator with a certificate 
stating the date of inspection, the name of the individual who made the 
inspection, the findings of the inspection, required remedial action, 
and the identity of the respirator.
    The Standard also requires employers to ensure that cylinders used 
to supply breathing air to respirators have a certificate of analysis 
from the supplier stating that the breathing air meets the requirements 
for Type 1--Grade D breathing air; such certification assures employers 
that the purchased breathing air is safe. Compressors used to supply 
breathing air to respirators must have a tag containing the most recent 
change date and the signature of the individual authorized by the 
employer to perform the change. Employers must maintain this tag at the 
compressor. These tags provide assurance that the compressors are 
functioning properly.

Ira L. Mills,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-158 Filed 1-4-05; 8:45 am]
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