DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0199(2001)]

Standards on Walking-Working Surfaces; 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 comment.

SUMMARY: OSHA requests comment on its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information-collection requirements contained in the Standards on Walking-Working Surfaces (29 CFR part 1910, subpart D). These requirements prevent serious injury and death among employees by notifying them of clearance limits in passageways and aisles, floor-loading limits, defective ladders, and the proper construction and erection of outrigger scaffolds.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0199(2001), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety Standards Programs, OSHS, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collections specified by the Standards on Walking-Working Surfaces is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or by requesting a copy from Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov, and select "Information Collection Requests."

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 (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 understandable, and OSHA's estimate of the information-collection burden is correct.

The following provisions of the Standards on Walking-Working Surfaces (29 CFR part 1910, subpart D; "the Standards") specify collection-of-information requirements: §§1910.22(b)(2), 1910.22(d)(1), 1910.26(c)(2)(vii), and 1910.28(e)(3). These provisions require employers to: Permanently mark aisles and passageways in buildings; post signs in a conspicuous location that show floor-loading limits approved by the building official, and replace these signs if lost, removed, or defaced; mark defective ladders and remove them from service until repaired; and, if a registered professional engineer designs an outrigger scaffold, construct and erect it according to this design, and maintain at the jobsite a copy of the detailed drawings and specifications showing the sizes and spacing of members. These paperwork requirements prevent serious injury and death among employees by notifying them of: Clearance limits in aisles and passageways to avoid improper use (and resulting impact) by mechanical-handling equipment; maximum loadings to prevent floor collapse; defective ladders that could become unstable or collapse during use; and proper construction and erection of outrigger scaffolds to avoid instability or collapse.

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 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 proposing to extend OMB approval of the information-collection requirements contained in the Standards on Walking-Working Surfaces (29 CFR part 1910, subpart D). 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 a currently-approved information-collection requirement.

Title: Walking-Working Surfaces (20 CFR part 1910, subpart D).

OMB Number: 1218-0199.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.

Number of Respondents: 60,500.

Frequency of Recordkeeping: Initially; on occasion.

Average Time per Response: Varies from one minute to maintain at the jobsite a set of drawings and specifications for outrigger scaffolds, to two hours to mark aisles and passageways.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 33,837.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.

IV. Authority and Signature

John L. Henshaw, 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. 3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

Signed at Washington, DC, on September 27, 2001.

John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 01-24701 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-26-M