[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81435-81436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25800]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009]
Fire Brigades Standard; 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 the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the
information collection requirements specified in the Fire Brigades
Standard.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
January 22, 2024.
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.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Documents in the docket 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 through the OSHA
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY
(877) 889-5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA
docket number (OSHA-2011-0009) for the Information Collection Request
(ICR). OSHA will place all comments, including any personal
information, in the public docket, which may be made available online.
Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties about submitting personal
information such as social security numbers and birthdates.
For further information on submitting comments, see the ``Public
Participation'' heading in the section of this notice titled
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman or Theda Kenney,
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 the 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) (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, 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 OSH 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 effort in
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
OSHA does not mandate that employers establish fire brigades;
however, if they do so, they must comply with the provisions of the
Fire Brigades Standard. The provisions of the standard, including the
paperwork requirements, apply to fire brigades, industrial fire
departments, and private or contract fire departments, but not to
airport crash rescue units or forest firefighting operations.
Paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), and (c)(4) contain the paperwork
requirements of the standard.
Under paragraph (b)(1) of the standard, employers must develop and
maintain an organizational statement that establishes the: existence of
a fire brigade; the basic organizational structure of the brigade;
type, amount, and frequency of training provided to brigade members;
expected number of members in the brigade; and functions that the
brigade is to perform. This paragraph also specifies that the
organizational statement must be available for review by workers, their
designated representatives, and OSHA compliance officers. The
organizational statement describes the functions performed by the
brigade members and, thereby, determines the level of training and type
of personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for these members to
perform their assigned functions safely. Making the statement available
to workers, their designated representatives, and OSHA compliance
officers ensures that the elements of the statement are consistent with
the functions performed by the brigade members and the occupational
hazards they experience, and that employers are providing training and
PPE appropriate to these functions and hazards.
To permit a worker with known heart disease, epilepsy, or emphysema
to participate in fire brigade emergency activities, paragraph (b)(2)
of the standard requires employers to obtain a physician's certificate
of the worker's fitness. This provision provides employers with a
direct and efficient means of ascertaining whether or not they can
safely expose workers with these medical conditions to the hazards of
firefighting operations.
Paragraph (c)(4) of the standard requires employers to inform fire
brigade members of special hazards, such as the storage and use of
flammable liquids and gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources,
water-reactive substances that may be present during fires and other
emergencies, and any changes in these special hazards. It also requires
that employers develop written procedures describing the actions that
brigade members are to take when special hazards are present, and to
make these procedures available in the education and training program
and for review by brigade members.
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 to
protect workers, 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 requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the
Fire Brigades Standard (29 CFR 1910.156). The agency is requesting an
adjustment decrease in burden hours from 2,767 to 2,695, a total
decrease of 72 hours. The adjustment is due to a decrease in the number
of manufacturing facilities with 100 or more workers from 25,546 to
24,885. Also, the number of responses decreased from 3,832 to 3,733.
OSHA will summarize the 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.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: The Fire Brigades Standard (29 CFR 1910.156).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0075.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 24,885.
Number of Responses: 3,733.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,695.
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); if your comments,
including attachments, are not longer than 10 pages you may fax them to
the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648; or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009). You
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files
electronically.
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
dates 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 at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-
5627) for information about materials not available from the website,
and for assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
James S. Frederick, Deputy 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. 8-2020
(85 FR 58393).
Signed at Washington, DC.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2023-25800 Filed 11-21-23; 8:45 am]
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