[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)][Notices][Pages 64838-64840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25941]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187]
Electrical Standards for Construction and General Industry;
Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of
the Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its request for an
extension of the information collection requirements contained in the
Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K) and
the Electrical Standards for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910,
subpart S). The Standards address safety procedures for installation
and maintenance of electric utilization equipment that prevent death
and serious injuries among construction and general industry workers in
the workplace caused by electrical hazards.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
December 30, 2014.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting
comments.
Facsimile: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer
than 10 pages you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service:
When using this method, you must submit a copy of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket Office's normal
business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA
docket number (OSHA-2011-0187) for the Information Collection Request
(ICR). All comments, including any personal information you provide,
are placed in the public docket without change, and may be made
available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further information
on submitting comments see the "Public Participation" heading in the
section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at
the address above. All documents in the docket (including this Federal
Register notice) are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index;
however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly
available to read or download from the Web site. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney or Todd Owen, Directorate
of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3609,
200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
2222.
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 accord 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 accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (the OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 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 OSH Act also requires that OSHA obtain such
information with minimum burden upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent
feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information
(29 U.S.C. 657).
The information collection requirements specified by the Electrical
Standards for Construction and the Electrical Standards for General
Industry alert workers to the presence and types of electrical hazards
in the workplace, thereby preventing serious injury and death by
electrocution. The information collection requirements in these
Standards involve the following: The employer using electrical
equipment that is marked with the manufacturer's name, trademark, or
other descriptive markings that identify the producer of the equipment,
and marking the equipment with the voltage, current, wattage, or other
ratings necessary; requiring each disconnecting means for motors and
appliances to be marked legibly to indicate its purpose, unless located
and arranged so the purpose is evident; requiring the entrances to
rooms and other guarded locations containing exposed live parts to be
marked with conspicuous warning signs forbidding unqualified persons
from entering; and, for construction employers only, establishing and
implementing the assured equipment grounding conductor program instead
of using ground-fault circuit interrupters.
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's functions,
including whether the information is useful;
The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and
cost) 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 an adjustment increase to the existing burden
hours from 170,098 to 220,849 for the Electrical Standards for
Construction and for General Industry, a total increase of 50,751
hours. The cost of the labels remains the same at $3.75 each, however,
the cost of caution and warning signs increased to $10.95 6.95, a total
increase of $4.00 each. The total cost over a five-year period to the
employer is $18,863,802 (or $3,772,760 per year). The Agency will
summarize any 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 these Standards.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926,
subpart K) and for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, subpart S).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0130.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.
Number of Respondents: 652,902.
Frequency of Response: Occasionally.
Total Responses: 3,041,060.
Average Time per Response: Varies from three minutes (.08 hour) to
post and construct each sign to four hours for a certified electrical
engineer to document a hazardous classified location.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 220,849.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $3,772,760.
IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions
You may submit comments in response to this document as follows:
(1) Electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187) for the ICR. You
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference
to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the
OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES).
The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments
by your name, date, and the docket number so the Agency can attach them
to your comments.
Because of security procedures, the use of regular mail may cause a
significant delay in the receipt of comments. For information about
security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by hand,
express delivery, messenger, or courier service, please contact the
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-5627).
Comments and submissions are posted without change at
http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and
date of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the
http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to read or download from this Web
site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site to submit comments and
access the docket is available at the Web site's "User Tips" link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not
available from the Web site, and for assistance in using the Internet
to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 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 et seq.) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012
(77 FR 3912).
Signed at Washington, DC, on October 28, 2014.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-25941 Filed 10-30-14; 8:45 am]
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