As an initial rulemaking step, and prior to publication of any changes to existing rules or enforcement policies, OSHA is convening a SBAR Panel in accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). This Panel consists of members from OSHA, the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy (SBA's Office of Advocacy), and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The SBAR Panel provides an opportunity for Small Entity Representatives ("SERs"), which include small businesses, small non-profit organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions with a population less than 50,000, to convey how the Agency's potential regulatory framework may impact small businesses and other small entities, and to suggest ways to minimize those impacts while meeting OSHA's statutory goals.

SERs are sent documents outlining the potential regulatory framework, alternatives to the potential framework, and preliminary analyses of the costs and impacts of the conceptual framework, for comment. The Panel's primary role is to report to the Assistant Secretary of Labor on the comments of the SERs and on the Panel's findings as to issues related to small entity impacts and significant alternatives that accomplish the Agency's objectives while minimizing the impact on small entities. The report will contain recommendations for the Agency on its analysis and on possible approaches to regulatory action that may minimize impacts on small entities.

OSHA is conducting this SBAR Panel early in the regulatory process in the interest of assuring that the Panel's report and recommendations can be fully considered in any subsequent rulemaking activities by the Agency. This is early in the process in the sense that OSHA has not yet developed draft regulatory text for each topic within the potential regulatory framework, and it intends to do much more research to refine its cost and benefit estimates; however, OSHA will provide a preliminary estimate of the costs and an estimate of the injuries that may be reduced by the rulemaking. OSHA will also provide estimates of the number of affected entities, the unit costs they might be expected to incur to comply with the potential standard being considered in this rulemaking, and the existing anecdotal and quantitative data pointing to the need for the standard.

SBAR Panel teleconferences with SERs will be held a few weeks after the formal convening of the Panel. Each SER will have the opportunity to provide comments to the SBAR Panel during a teleconference call. The SBAR Panel will schedule several teleconference calls. Each teleconference call will be open to the public, but only the SERs and the members of the SBAR Panel will be permitted to participate in the discussions. Following the teleconference, SERs will have an opportunity to provide written comments to the Panel. The Panel plans to provide its final report to the docket approximately one month after the teleconferences have ended.

The construction and maintenance of telecommunication towers is highly specialized work. This work often involves workers climbing towers via ladders or being hoisted to workstations on the tower via base-mounted drum hoists. During the performance of work activities involving telecommunication towers, workers are exposed to a variety of serious hazards, including fall hazards, hazards associated with structural collapses, struck-by hazards, hazards associated with worker fatigue, radio frequency hazards, hazards associated with inclement weather (including extreme heat and cold), electrical hazards, and cut and laceration hazards due to the use of sharp, heavy tools and materials.

Recognizing a critical need to address the root causes of the high fatality rate in the industry, OSHA developed a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit information about the hazards to which telecommunication tower workers are exposed and about the best practices implemented within the industry to address those hazards. The RFI was published on April 15, 2015, and OSHA received over 900 individual responses to the RFI questions. In addition to obtaining information from the RFI responses, the potential regulatory framework was developed with information obtained during ongoing site visits, meetings/conference calls with stakeholders, public workshops in collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and at other stakeholder outreach venues.

By thoroughly evaluating and integrating this information, OSHA anticipates that the potential telecommunication towers standard will provide a comprehensive framework to address the hazards identified above, thereby making the construction and maintenance of telecommunication towers safer.