DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0215(2000)]

Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of an Information Collection (Paperwork) Request

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); Labor.

ACTION: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning the proposed extension by OMB of the information collection requirements contained in the standard on Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment (PPE), 29 CFR 1915.152(b)(4) and (e)(4).

Request for Comment

The Agency seeks comments on the following issues:

• Whether the information collection requirements are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, including whether the information is useful;

• The accuracy of the Agency'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, electronic, mechanical, and other technological information and transmission collection techniques.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0215(2000), Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less in length by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety Standards Programs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3605, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's Information Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collection requirements contained in the standard on Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915.152) is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or mailed on request by telephoning Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Barbara Bielaski at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html, and click on "Information Collection Requests."

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 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 correct.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) 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.) The PPE for Shipyard Employment standard requires that all affected employers conduct a hazard assessment and make a determination regarding their need for PPE. This is a one-time obligation unless conditions in the workplace change in such a way that new or different hazards arise, thereby necessitating an updated or revised hazard assessment. The employer must verify performance of the required occupational hazard assessment through a document that contains the following information: Occupation, the date(s) of the hazard assessment, and the name of the person performing the hazard assessment. The employer must also verify that each affected employee received the required training through a document that contains the following information: Name of each employee trained, the date(s) of training, and type of training the employee received.

The information collection requirements (documentations) verify that employers are in compliance with the standard. OSHA compliance officers will require employers to disclose the required documentation at the time of an inspection.

II. Proposed Actions

OSHA estimates that employers will expand 707 burden hours to comply with the information collection requirements in 29 CFR 1915.152(b)(4) and (e)(4). This is a decrease of OSHA's earlier estimate of 1,540 burden hours to comply with the information collection requirements in the above provisions.

OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirements contained in the above standard.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information collection requirement.

Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Title: Personal Protective Equipment for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915.152).

OMB Number: 1218-0215.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; Federal government; state, local or tribal government.

Number of Respondents: 8,000.

Frequency: Varies (on occasion, annually).

Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (0.08 hour) to 3 hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 707.

III. Authority and Signature

Charles N. Jeffress, 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. 6-96 (62 FR 111).

Signed at Washington, D.C. this 14 day of October, 1999.

Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 99-27522 Filed 10-20-99; 8:45 am]