[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 31 (Thursday, February 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7465-7467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2673]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009]


Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records; 
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 public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to 
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements 
contained in its Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical 
Records (29 CFR 1910.1020).

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent or received) by 
April 16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, by any of the following methods:
    Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer than 
10 pages, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-1648.
    Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service: 
You must submit three copies of your comments and attachments to the 
OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. 
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are 
accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket Office's normal 
business hours, 8:15 a.m.-4:45 p.m., e.t.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA 
docket number for this information collection request (ICR) (OSHA 
Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009). All comments, including any personal 
information you provide, are placed in the public docket without change 
and may be made

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available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further information 
on submitting comments see the ``Public Participation'' heading in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at 
the address above. All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index; however, some information (e.g., 
copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download 
through the website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, 
are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You 
may also contact Todd Owen at the address below to obtain a copy of the 
ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamaa Hill or Todd Owen, 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. 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 (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 accurate. The 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) authorizes 
information collection requirements 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).
    Under the authority granted by the Act, OSHA published a health 
regulation governing access to employee exposure monitoring data and 
medical records. This regulation does not require employers to collect 
any information or to establish any new systems of records. Rather, it 
requires that employers provide employees, their designated 
representatives, and OSHA with access to employee exposure monitoring 
and medical records, and any analyses resulting from these records. In 
this regard, the regulation specifies requirements for record access, 
record retention, employee information, trade secret management, and 
record transfer. Accordingly, the Agency attributes the burden hours 
and costs associated with exposure monitoring and measurement, medical 
surveillance, and the other activities required to generate the data 
governed by the regulation to the health standards that specify these 
activities; therefore, OSHA did not include these burden hours and 
costs in this ICR.
    Access to exposure and medical information enables employees and 
their designated representatives to become directly involved in 
identifying and controlling occupational health hazards, as well as 
managing and preventing occupationally-related health impairment and 
disease. Providing the Agency with access to the records permits it to 
ascertain whether or not employers are complying with the regulation, 
as well as the recordkeeping requirements of its other health 
standards; therefore, OSHA access provides additional assurance that 
employees and their designated representatives are able to obtain the 
data they need to conduct their analyses.

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 to 
protect employees, 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 requesting that OMB extend its approval of the collection 
of information requirements specified by the Regulation on Access to 
Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 1910.1020). This request 
includes an increase of 158,880 burden hours. 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: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 
1910.1020).
    OMB Number: 1218-0065.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal government; 
State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 734,820.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) for 
employers to provide OSHA with access to records to 10 minutes (.17 
hour) to maintain employee records.
    Total Annual Hours Requested: 720,187.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.



IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and 
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

    You may submit comments in response to this document (1) 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All 
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name 
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2007-
0009). You may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document 
files electronically. If, instead, you wish to mail additional 
materials in reference to an electronic or fax submission, you must 
submit them to the OSHA Docket Office (see ADDRESSES section). The 
additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments by 
your name, date, and docket number so OSHA can attach them to your 
comments.
    Because of security-related procedures, the use of regular mail may 
cause a significant delay in the receipt of comments. For information 
about security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by hand, 
express delivery, messenger, or courier service, please contact the 
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY (877) 889-5627).
    Comments and submissions are posted without change at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about 
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and 
date of birth. Although all submissions are listed in

[[Page 7467]]

the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., 
copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download 
through http://www.regulations.gov. All submissions, including 
copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the 
OSHA Docket Office. Information on using the http://regulations.gov 
website to submit comments and access the docket is available at the 
website's ``User Tips'' link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for 
information about materials not available through the website, and for 
assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.
    Electronic copies of this Federal Register document are available 
at http://regulations.gov. This document, as well as news releases and 
other relevant information, also are available at OSHA's webpage at 
http://www.osha.gov.

V. Authority and Signature

    Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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 February 12, 2007.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. E7-2673 Filed 2-14-07; 8:45 am]
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