[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10553-10554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05349]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0008]
Standard on Commercial Diving Operations; Extension of the Office
of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of 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 the proposal to
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements
contained in the standard on Commercial Diving Operations.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
May 20, 2019.
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-2011-0008,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N-3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the OSHA Docket Office's normal business hours, 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2011-0008) 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 above address. 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 through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at
(202) 693-2222 to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney or Seleda Perryman,
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor,
telephone (202) 693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a 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, the reporting burden (time and
costs) is minimal, the collection instruments are clearly understood,
and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (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 incidents (see 29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also requires
OSHA to obtain such information with a minimum burden upon employers,
especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce to the
maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining
said information (see 29 U.S.C. 657).
The following provisions of the Commercial Diving Operations
Standards (the ``standards'') contain paperwork requirements:
Sec. Sec. 1910.401(b); 1910.420(a) and (b); 1910.421(b) and (h);
1910.422(e); 1910.423(d) and (e); 1910.430(a), (b)(4), (c)(1)(i)
through (c)(1)(iii), (c)(3)(i), (f)(3)(ii), and (g)(2); and
1910.440(a)(2) and (b). These provisions require that employers: Notify
OSHA if they deviate from the operational requirements of the
standards; develop and make available
to employees a safe practices manual; maintain a list of emergency
telephone or call numbers at the diving location; display a code flag
``A'' if diving from a surface other than a vessel in navigable waters;
and develop and maintain a depth-time profile for each dive. The
standards also mandate that employers: Record and maintain diving logs
that contain required information; investigate and provide a written
evaluation of any incident involving decompression sickness; mark
diving umbilicals as required; inspect, test, and calibrate specified
diving equipment; record modifications, repairs, tests, calibrations,
and maintenance performed on any diving equipment; make a record of
diving-related injuries and illnesses that result in a diver remaining
in a hospital for over 24 hours; and create, and disclose to specified
parties on request, the written records required by the standard, and
maintain these records for specified periods.
The standards paperwork requirements allow employers to deviate
from established diving practices and tailor diving operations to
unusually hazardous diving conditions, and to analyze diving records
(including hospitalization and treatment records) for information they
can use to improve diving operations. These requirements are also a
direct and efficient means for employers to inform dive-team members
about diving-related hazards, procedures to use in avoiding and
controlling these hazards, and recognizing and treating diving-related
illnesses and injuries. Additionally, employers can review equipment
records to ensure that employees performed the required actions, and
that the equipment is in safe working order.
Disclosing these records to employees and their designated
representatives permits them to identify operational and equipment
conditions that may contribute to diving accidents or diving-related
medical conditions.
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
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
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational
Employment Statistics report on Occupational Employment and Wages, May
2017, the number of professional divers has decreased from 10,000
divers in 2008 to 3,280 in 2017. Therefore, OSHA is requesting an
adjustment decrease of 137,847 burden hours from 205,015 to 67,168
hours. The agency will summarize any comments submitted in response to
this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Commercial Diving Operations Standard (29 CFR part 1910,
subpart T).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0069.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 1,093.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Total Responses: 1,325,509.
Average Time per Response: Various.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 67,168.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.
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 materials must identify the agency
name and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0008) 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 electronic
comments by your name, date, and the docket number so that 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
website.
All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for
inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using
the http://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and access
the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link. Contact
the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not available
from the website, and for assistance in using the internet to locate
docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Acting 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 March 15, 2019.
Loren Sweatt,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2019-05349 Filed 3-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
