[Federal Register: May 4, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 85)][Proposed Rules]
[Page 23637-23640]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04my10-28]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Part 1910
Injury and Illness Prevention Program
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice of stakeholder meetings.
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SUMMARY: OSHA invites interested parties to participate in informal
stakeholder meetings on Injury and Illness Prevention Programs,
referred to as "I2P2." OSHA plans to use the information gathered at
these meetings in developing an Injury and Illness Prevention Program
proposed rule. The discussions will be informal and will provide the
Agency with the necessary information to develop a rule that will help
employers reduce workplace injuries and illnesses through a systematic
process that proactively addresses workplace safety and health hazards.
DATES: Dates and locations for the stakeholder meetings are:
June 3, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in East Brunswick,
NJ.
June 10, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in Dallas, TX.
June 29, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in Washington, DC.
The deadlines for confirmed registration at each meeting are May
20, May 27, and June 15, 2010 respectively.
ADDRESSES:
I. Registration
Submit your notice of intent to participate in one of the scheduled
meetings by one of the following:
Electronic. Register at https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/osha/register-osha-I2P2.htm
follow the instructions online).
Facsimile. Fax your request to: (781) 674-2906, and label
it "Attention: OSHA I2P2 Stakeholder Meeting Registration."
Regular mail, express delivery, hand (courier) delivery,
and messenger service.
Send your request to: Eastern Research Group, Inc., 110 Hartwell
Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421; Attention: OSHA I2P2 Stakeholder Meeting
Registration.
II. Meetings
Specific information on the location of each meeting can be found
on the I2P2 Web site at https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/osha/register-osha-I2P2.htm
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information regarding this notice is
available from the following sources:
Press inquiries. Contact Jennifer Ashley, Director, OSHA
Office of Communications, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-
1999.
General and technical information. Contact Michael
Seymour, OSHA Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Room N-3718, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210, telephone: (202) 693-1950.
Copies of this Federal Register notice. Electronic copies
are available at http://www.regulations.gov. This Federal Register
notice, as well as news releases and other relevant information, also
are available on the OSHA Web page at http://www.osha.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Over the past 30 years, the occupational safety and health
community has used various names to describe systematic approaches to
reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. OSHA has voluntary
Safety and Health Management Program guidelines, consensus and
international standards use the term "Safety and Health Management
Systems," and OSHA's state plan states use terms such as "Injury and
Illness Prevention Programs" and "Accident Prevention Programs." In
this notice, OSHA uses the term "Injury and Illness Prevention
Programs." Regardless of the title, the common goal of these
approaches is to help employers reduce workplace injuries and illnesses
through a systematic process that proactively addresses workplace
safety and health hazards.
OSHA's History With Safety and Health Programs
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (the
Act) in Section 17, paragraph (j), provides the Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission (OSHRC) the authority to assess civil
penalties giving due consideration to the good faith of the employer.
Based on this paragraph of the Act, OSHA has also had a policy of
reducing penalties for employers who have violated OSHA standards but
who have demonstrated a good faith effort to provide a safe and healthy
workplace to their employees. The Agency has long recognized the
implementation of a safety and health program as a way of demonstrating
good faith. Similarly, in its first decision, the OSHRC held that good
faith compliance efforts are gauged primarily by the presence of
effective safety and health programs (Nacirema Operating Co., 1 O.S.H.
Cas. (BNA) 1001 (Rev. Comm'n 1972)).
Over the years, OSHA has established a number of initiatives to
encourage employers to develop and implement employee safety and health
programs. OSHA's Small Business Consultation Program, which offers
small businesses with exemplary safety and health programs an
opportunity for recognition under their Safety and Health Achievement
Recognition Program (SHARP) and the Agency's Voluntary Protection
Program (VPP) are two examples of such initiatives. The Agency
established the VPP to recognize companies in the private sector with
outstanding records in the area of employee safety and health. It
became apparent that many of these worksites, which had higher levels
of compliance, fewer serious hazards, and injury and illness rates
markedly below industry averages, were relying on safety and health
programs to produce these results.
Based on the growing support for safety and health programs, OSHA
issued the Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines in 1989 (54
FR 3908). These guidelines reflect the best management practices of
successful companies and encourage employers to institute and maintain
a program which provides systematic policies, procedures, and practices
that are adequate to recognize and protect their employees from
occupational safety and health hazards. The guidelines identify four
major elements of an effective program: Management commitment and
employee involvement; worksite analysis; hazard prevention and
controls; and safety and health training.
OSHA's Previous Rulemaking Effort
In October of 1995, OSHA held the first series of stakeholder
meetings to discuss preliminary ideas for a safety and health program
rule and the significant issues that would be raised by such a rule.
Many small businesses and organizations representing small businesses
attended the stakeholder meetings. Staff members from the Office of
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) were also present
at the stakeholder meetings.
In all, OSHA interacted with hundreds of stakeholders, including
employers, employees, employee representatives, trade associations,
State and local government personnel, safety and health professionals,
Advisory Committees, and other interested parties.
In 1998, OSHA developed a draft proposed rule that would have
required employers in general industry and maritime workplaces to
establish safety and health programs. The program in the draft proposed
rule had five core elements, including: Management leadership and
employee participation; hazard identification and assessment; hazard
prevention and control; information and training; and evaluation of the
program's effectiveness. In developing the draft proposed rule, OSHA
worked extensively with stakeholders from labor, industry, safety and
health organizations, State governments, trade associations, insurance
companies, and small businesses.
On October 20, 1998, OSHA convened a Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) Panel for the draft Safety and Health
Programs proposed rule. The Panel provided small entity representatives
(SERs) with initial drafts of the rule, a summary of the rule, the
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, a summary of the benefits and
costs of the rule as it affected firms in the small entity
representative's industry, OSHA's draft enforcement policy for the
rule, and a list of issues of interest to panel members.
The SBREFA Panel held teleconferences and received written comments
from the SERs. The comments, and the Panel's responses to them, formed
the principal basis for the Panel's report. The Panel's report provided
background information on the draft proposed rule and the types of
small entities that would be subject to the proposed rule, described
the Panel's efforts to obtain the advice and recommendations of
representatives of those small entities, summarized the comments that
had been received from those representatives, and presented the
findings and recommendations of the Panel.
A proposed Safety and Health Program rule was never published, and
the rulemaking effort was removed from the Regulatory Agenda on August
15, 2002. However, the effort in the 1990s showed the interest of OSHA,
the States, employers, employees, OSHA's advisory committees, and
others in a systematic process that proactively addresses workplace
safety and health hazards. It demonstrated that OSHA was not alone in
believing that these processes work to save lives and to prevent
injuries and illnesses in the workplace.
Safety and Health Management System Consensus Standards
Recently, consensus standards have been developed that address
safety and health management systems. The American Industrial Hygiene
Association published a voluntary consensus standard, ANSI/AIHA Z10--
2005 Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems, based on the
"Plan-Do-Check-Act" cycle. The Z10 standard places an emphasis on
continual improvement and systematically eliminating the underlying
root cause of hazards. In addition, the Occupational Health and Safety
Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group, which is an international
association of government agencies, private industries, and consulting
organizations, developed OHSAS 18001--2007 Occupational Health and
Safety Management Systems in response to customer demand for a
recognized occupational health and safety management system standard
against which their management systems could be assessed and certified.
The OHSAS 18001 is published by the British Standards Institute.
II. Stakeholder Meetings
Stakeholder meetings will provide OSHA with current information and
appreciation of the views of a wide range of interests. The meetings
will be conducted as a group discussion. To facilitate as much group
interaction as possible, formal presentations will not be permitted.
OSHA believes the stakeholder meeting discussion should center on major
issues such as:
Possible regulatory approaches.
Scope and application of a rule.
--Covered industries.
--Covered employers (size, high/low injury rates).
--Covered hazards.
--Relationship to existing OSHA requirements.
Organization of a rule.
--Regulatory text.
--Mandatory or voluntary appendices.
--Other standards incorporated by reference.
The role of consensus standards.
Economic impacts.
Any additional topics as time permits.
In addition, OSHA is interested in receiving feedback on the
following specific questions:
In light of the ANSI Z10 standard, the OHSAS 18001
standard, and OSHA's 1989 guidelines, what are the advantages and
disadvantages of addressing through rulemaking a systematic process
that proactively addresses workplace safety and health hazards?
Based on OSHA's experience, the agency believes that an
I2P2 rule would include the following elements:
1. Management duties (including items such as establishing a
policy, setting goals, planning and allocating resources, and assigning
and communicating roles and responsibilities);
2. Employee participation (including items such as involving
employees in establishing, maintaining and evaluating the program,
employee access to safety and health information, and employee role in
incident investigations);
3. Hazard identification and assessment (including items such as
what hazards must be identified, information gathering, workplace
inspections, incident investigations, hazards associated with changes
in the workplace, emergency hazards, hazard assessment and
prioritization, and hazard identification tools);
4. Hazard prevention and control (including items such as what
hazards must be controlled, hazard control priorities, and the
effectiveness of the controls);
5. Education and training (including items such as content of
training, relationship to other OSHA training requirements, and
periodic training); and
6. Program evaluation and improvement (including items such as
monitoring performance, correcting program deficiencies, and improving
program performance).
Are these the appropriate elements? Which elements are essential
for an effective approach? Should additional elements be included?
How can OSHA ensure that small business employers are able
to implement and maintain an effective I2P2?
Should an OSHA I2P2 rule apply to every business or should
it be limited in some way based on an employer's size, industry,
incident rates, and/or hazard indices?
To what extent should OSHA rely on existing consensus
standards in developing a rule?
How can OSHA use state experience with injury and illness
prevention in developing a rule?
What mechanisms have been found to be effective for
enabling employees to participate in safety and health in the
workplace?
Given the variety of names used to describe processes to
reduce injuries and illnesses in the workplace, what is the most
appropriate name for OSHA to describe this topic?
III. Public Participation
Approximately 50 participants will be accommodated in each meeting,
and eight hours will be allotted for each meeting. Members of the
general public may observe, but not participate in, the meetings on a
first-come, first-served basis as space permits. OSHA staff will be
present to take part in the discussions. Logistics for the meetings are
being managed by Eastern Research Group (ERG), which will provide a
facilitator and compile notes summarizing the discussion; these notes
will not identify individual speakers. ERG also will make an audio
recording of each session to ensure that the summary notes are
accurate; these recordings will not be transcribed. The summary notes
will be available on OSHA's Web page at http://www.osha.gov.
Specific information on the location of each meeting can be found
on the I2P2 Web site at https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/osha/register-osha-I2P2.htm.
To participate in one of the stakeholder meetings, or be a
nonparticipating observer, you may submit notice of intent
electronically, by facsimile, or by hard copy. In order to encourage as
wide a range of viewpoints as possible, OSHA will confirm participants
as necessary to ensure a fair representation of interests and to
facilitate gathering diverse viewpoints. To receive a confirmation of
your participation 1 week before the meeting, register by the date
listed in the DATES section of this notice. However, registration will
remain open until the meetings are full. Additional nonparticipating
observers that do not register for the meeting will be accommodated as
space permits. See the ADDRESSES section of this notice for the
registration Web site, facsimile number, and address. To register
electronically, follow the instructions provided on the Web site. To
register by mail or facsimile, please indicate the following:
Name, address, phone, fax, and e-mail.
Meeting location you would like to attend.
Organization for which you work.
Organization you represent (if different).
Stakeholder category: Government, industry, standards-
developing organization, research or testing agency, union, trade
association, insurance, consultant, or other (if other, please
specify).
Industry sector (if applicable).
Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice, as well as news
releases and other relevant documents, are available on the OSHA Web
page at: http://www.osha.gov.
IV. Authority and Signature
This document was prepared under the direction of David Michaels,
PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and
Health, U.S. Department of Labor, pursuant to sections 4, 6, and 8 of
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655,
657), 29 CFR part 1911, and Secretary's Order 5-2007 (72 FR 31160).
Signed at Washington, DC, on April 12, 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-10138 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
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