[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 174 (Monday, September 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47325-47327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19356]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2009-0028]
Personal Protective Equipment for General Industry; Extension for
the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information
Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning this proposal to extend the
Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the Personal Protective Equipment
Standard for General Industry.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
November 8, 2019.
ADDRESSES:
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.
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.
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Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service:
When using this method, you must submit three copies of your comments
and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0028,
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, Room N-3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20210. Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service)
are accepted during the OSHA Docket Office's normal business hours,
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA
docket number for the ICR (OSHA-2009-0028) 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 material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at
the above address. 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 through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may contact Theda Kenney at the
phone number below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman, Directorate of
Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC
20210; telephone (202) 693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a 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 accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) authorizes 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).
Subpart I specifies several paperwork requirements. The following
describes the information collection requirements in subpart I and
addresses who will use the information.
Hazard Assessment and Verification (Sec. 1910.132(d) & (g))
Paragraph 1910.132(d)(1) and the Personal Fall Protection standard
require that employers perform a hazard assessment of the workplace to
determine whether hazards are present, or likely to be present, that
make the use of PPE necessary.\1\ Where such hazards are present,
employers must select and have each affected worker use PPE that
protects them from the identified hazards (Sec. 1910.132(d)(1)(i)),
and communicate PPE selection decisions to each affected worker (Sec.
1910.132(d)(1)(ii)).
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\1\ Section 1910.132(g) specifies that the hazard assessment
(Sec. 1910.132(d)) requirements only apply to PPE for the eyes,
face, head, feet, and hands. The final rule revised Sec.
1910.132(g) to also apply the hazard assessment requirement to
personal fall protection systems.
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Paragraph 1910.132(d)(2) requires that employers certify in writing
they have performed the required hazard assessment. The certification
must include the date, the name of the person certifying that the
hazard assessment was conducted, and identification of the workplace
evaluated (area or location). The Personal Fall Protection standard
expands the hazard assessment requirement to personal fall protection
systems (Sec. 1910.132(g)).
Conducting a PPE hazard assessment ensures that potential workplace
hazards necessitating PPE use have been identified and that the PPE
selected is appropriate for those hazards and the affected workers.
Communicating information on PPE selection decisions to affected
workers ensures they are aware that the PPE selected will protect them
from the hazards that the assessment identified. The certification of
the hazard assessment verifies that employers have conducted the
required assessment.
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 approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the Personal Protective Equipment
Standard for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, subpart I). OSHA is
proposing to decrease the burden hours in the currently approved
information collection request from 3,745,218 hours to 3,673,168, a
total adjustment decrease of 72,050 hours. This decrease is due to
updated data showing a decrease in the number of establishments using
fall protection systems by the standard. 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: Personal Protective Equipment for General Industry (PPE) (29
CFR part 1910, subpart I).
OMB Number: 1218-0205.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government;
State, Local, or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 3,039,775.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Various.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,673,168.
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, 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 (Docket No. OSHA-2009-0028). You
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document
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files 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 by 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 through this
website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the http://www.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.
V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Principal 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).
Signed at Washington, DC, on September 3, 2019.
Loren Sweatt,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety
and Health.
[FR Doc. 2019-19356 Filed 9-6-19; 8:45 am]
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