DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0229(2002)]

Standard on Mechanical Power Presses; 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 request comment concerning its proposed extension of the information-collection requirements contained in the Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217). The paperwork provisions of the Standard specify requirements for developing and maintaining records to certify that employers are inspecting presses as required by the Standard. The purpose of these requirements is to reduce employees' risk of death or serious injury by ensuring that employers maintain the mechanical power presses used by the employees in safe operating condition.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before August 26, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0229(2002), 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, OSHA, 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 in the Standard on Mechanical Power Presses 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:

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

The Mechanical Power Presses Standard specifies two paperwork requirements. The following paragraphs describe who uses the information collected under each requirement, as well as how they use it. The purpose of these requirements is to reduce employees' risk of death or serious injury by ensuring that employers maintain the mechanical power presses used by the employees in safe operating condition. (Based on previous ICR approvals by OMB, OSHA determined that the training requirement in paragraph (f)(2) of the Standard is not a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.)

• Paragraph (e)(1)(i) requires employers to establish and follow a program of periodic and regular inspections of power presses to ensure that all their parts, auxiliary equipment, and safeguards are in safe operating condition and adjustment. Employers must maintain a certification record of inspections that includes the date of inspection, the signature of the person who performed the inspection, and the serial number, or other identifier, of the power press that was inspected.
   
• Paragraph (e)(1)(ii) requires employers to inspect and test each press no less than weekly to determine the condition of the clutch/brake mechanism, antirepeat feature, and single-stroke mechanism. Employers must perform and complete necessary maintenance or repair or both before the press is operated. In addition, employers must maintain a record of inspections, tests, and maintenance work. The record must include the date of the date of the inspection, test, or maintenance; the signature of the person who performed the inspection; and the serial number, or other identifier, of the press that was inspected, tested, or maintained.
   

The certification records required in 29 CFR 1910.217(e)(1)(i) and (e)(1)(ii) are necessary to ensure compliance with the requirement to inspect mechanical power presses. The inspection of mechanical power presses is critical to ensuring that employers maintain the presses in safe operating condition for employees. These records also provide the most efficient means for the compliance officers to determine that an employer is complying with the Standard.

II. Special Issues for Comment

OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:

• Whether the proposed information-collection 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 proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the collection-of-information requirements specified in the Standard on Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217). OSHA 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: Mechanical Power Presses (29 CFR 1910.217).

OMB Number: 1218-0229.

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

Number of Respondents: 191,750 (assuming one mechanical power press per employer).

Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion.

Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hour) to 20 minutes (.33 hour).

Total Annual Hours Requested: 1,372,930.

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 June 21, 2002.

John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 02-16263 Filed 6-26-02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-26-M