[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37118-37120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16711]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009]


Fire Brigades Standard; 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 public comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA is soliciting public comments concerning its proposal to 
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the 
information collection requirements specified in the Fire Brigades 
Standard.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
October 10, 2017.

ADDRESSES: 
    Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting comments.
    Facsimile: 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: 
When using these methods, you must submit a copy of your comments and 
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N-3653, 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, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., ET.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the 
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2011-0009) for the Information Collection 
Request (ICR). All comments, including any personal information you 
provide, are placed in the public docket without change, and may be 
made available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further 
information on submitting comments, see the ``Public Participation'' 
heading in the section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Docket: To read or download comments or other materials in the 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at 
the address above. All documents in the docket (including this Federal 
Register notice) are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index; 
however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly 
available to read or download from the Web site. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at 
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, 202-693-2044, 
[email protected]; Todd Owen, 202-693-1941, [email protected].

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 accord 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 OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) authorizes 
information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for 
enforcement of the OSH Act or for developing information regarding the 
causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and 
accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also requires OSHA to obtain 
such

[[Page 37119]]

information with minimum burden upon employers, especially those 
operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent 
feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information 
(29 U.S.C. 657).
    OSHA does not mandate that employers establish fire brigades; 
however, if they do so, they must comply with the provisions of the 
Fire Brigades Standard. The provisions of the standard, including the 
paperwork requirements, apply to fire brigades, industrial fire 
departments, and private or contract fire departments, but not to 
airport crash rescue units or forest firefighting operations. 
Paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), and (c)(4) contain the paperwork 
requirements of the standard.
    Under paragraph (b)(1) of the standard, employers must develop and 
maintain an organizational statement that establishes the: Existence of 
a fire brigade; the basic organizational structure of the brigade; 
type, amount, and frequency of training provided to brigade members; 
expected number of members in the brigade; and functions that the 
brigade is to perform. This paragraph also specifies that the 
organizational statement must be available for review by workers, their 
designated representatives, and OSHA compliance officers. The 
organizational statement describes the functions performed by the 
brigade members and, thereby, determines the level of training and type 
of personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for these members to 
perform their assigned functions safely. Making the statement available 
to workers, their designated representatives, and OSHA compliance 
officers ensures that the elements of the statement are consistent with 
the functions performed by the brigade members and the occupational 
hazards they experience, and that employers are providing training and 
PPE appropriate to these functions and hazards.
    To permit a worker with known heart disease, epilepsy, or emphysema 
to participate in fire brigade emergency activities, paragraph (b)(2) 
of the standard requires employers to obtain a physician's certificate 
of the worker's fitness. This provision provides employers with a 
direct and efficient means of ascertaining whether or not they can 
safely expose workers with these medical conditions to the hazards of 
firefighting operations.
    Paragraph (c)(4) of the standard requires employers to inform fire 
brigade members of special hazards, such as the storage and use of 
flammable liquids and gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, 
water-reactive substances that may be present during fires and other 
emergencies, and any changes in these special hazards. It also requires 
that employers develop written procedures describing the actions that 
brigade members are to take when special hazards are present, and to 
make these procedures available in the education and training program 
and for review by brigade members.

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 requesting that OMB extend its approval of the information 
collection requirements contained in the Fire Brigades Standard (29 CFR 
1910.156). The agency is requesting an increase in its current burden 
hours from 2,510 hours to 2,693 hours, a total increase of 183 hours. 
The adjustment is primarily due to an increase in the estimated number 
of manufacturing facilities with 100 or more workers. The agency will 
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and will 
include this summary in the request to OMB.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Fire Brigades Standards (29 CFR 1910.156).
    OMB Control Number: 1218-0075.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
    Number of Respondents: 24,856.
    Total Responses: 3,729.
    Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Various.
    Total Burden Hours: 2,693.
    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 as follows: 
(1) Electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax); or (3) by hard copy. All 
comments, attachments, and other materials must identify the agency 
name and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2011-
0009). You may supplement submissions by uploading documents 
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference 
to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the 
OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES). 
The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments 
and your name, date, and the docket number so the agency can attach 
them to your comments.
    Because of security 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 the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted 
material) is not publicly available to read or download from this Web 
site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available 
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on 
using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site to submit comments and 
access the docket is available at the Web site's ``User Tips'' link. 
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not 
available from this Web site and for assistance in using the Internet 
to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    Loren Sweatt, Deputy 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 et seq.) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012 (77 FR 
3912).


[[Page 37120]]


    Signed at Washington, DC, on July 31, 2017.
Loren Sweatt,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2017-16711 Filed 8-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-26-P