[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 58 (Monday, March 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20703-20705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06153]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2017-0005]
Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution
Standards for Construction and General Industry and Electrical
Protective Equipment Standards for Construction and General Industry;
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 Electric Power
Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Standards for Construction
and General Industry and Electrical Protective Equipment Standards for
Construction and General Industry.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
May 24, 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 websites. 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-2017-0005) 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, 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).
The Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution
Standards (29 CFR 1926 and 29 CFR 1910.269) and the Electrical
Protective Equipment Standards (29 CFR 1926.97 and 29 CFR 1910.137)
specify a number of collection of information requirements. The
following describes the collection of information requirements
contained in the standards.
Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Standard
(Sec. Sec. 1926 and 1910.269).
For host employer responsibilities paragraphs 1910.269(a)(3)(i) and
1926.950(c)(1) for construction and general industry, before work
begins, the host employer must inform the contract employers of: the
characteristics of the host employer's installation listed; conditions
listed in paragraphs of this section that are known to the host
employer; information about the design and operation of the host
employer's installation that the contract employer needs to make the
assessments required by this section; and any other information about
the design and operation of the host employer's installation that is
known by the host employer, that the contract employer requests, that
is related to the protection of the contract employer's employees.
For contract employer responsibilities paragraph 1910.269(a)(3)(ii)
and 1926.950(c)(2) for construction and general industry, contract
employers must ensure that each of the employees is instructed in the
hazardous conditions relevant to the employee's work that the contract
employer is aware of as a result of information communicated to the
contract employer by the host employer; before work begins, the
contract employer must advise the host employer of any unique hazardous
conditions presented by the contract employer's work; and the contract
employer must advise the host employer of any unanticipated hazardous
conditions found during the contract employer's work that the host
employer did not mention. The contract employer shall provide this
information to the host employer within 2 working days after
discovering the hazardous condition.
In job briefing the information provided by the employer in
paragraphs 1910.269(1)(i) and 1926.952(a)(1) for construction and
general industry, in assigning an employee or a group of employees to
perform a job, the employer must provide the employee in charge of the
job with all available information that relates to the determination of
existing characteristics and conditions required.
For the engineering analyses to determine maximum anticipated per
unit transient overvoltage in paragraphs 1910.269(l)(3)(ii) and
1926.960(c)(1)(ii) for construction and general industry, the employer
must determine the maximum anticipated per-unit transient overvoltage,
phase-to-ground, through an engineering analysis or assume a maximum
anticipated per-unit transient overvoltage, phase-to-ground, in
accordance with the tables listed. When the employer uses portable
protective gaps to control the maximum transient overvoltage, the value
of the maximum anticipated per-unit transient overvoltage, phase-to-
ground, must provide for five standard deviations between the
statistical sparkover voltage of the gap and the statistical withstand
voltage corresponding to the electrical component of the minimum
approach distance. The employer must make any engineering analysis
conducted to determine maximum anticipated per-unit transient
overvoltage available upon request to employees and to the Assistant
Secretary or designee for examination and copying.
Electrical Protective Equipment Standard (Sec. Sec. 1926.97 and
1910.137).
Testing Certification (Sec. Sec. 1926.97(c)(2)(xii) and
1910.137(c)(2)(xii)).
Employers must certify that the electrical protective equipment
used by their workers have passed the tests specified in paragraphs
(c)(2)(vii)(D), (c)(2)(viii), (c)(2)(ix), and (c)(2)(xi) of the
Standards. The certification must identify the equipment that passed
the tests and the dates of the tests. The two standards require
testing: periodically (generally, every 6 months for rubber insulating
gloves and every 12 months for most other types of rubber insulating
equipment); after any repairs; and before the equipment is returned to
service after any inspection finds certain defects. In addition, the
employer must test rubber insulating gloves before reuse after
employees use them without protector gloves and must certify that
testing. These performance-based standards ensure that employers
maintain the most recent test records for equipment that passes the
required test without specifying precisely how the employer must
maintain those records.
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, and
transmission techniques.
III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is requesting that OMB extends the approval of the information
collection requirements specified in the Electric Power Generation,
Transmission, and Distribution Standards for Construction and General
Industry and the Electrical Protective Equipment Standards for
Construction and General Industry. The agency is requesting an
adjustment increase in burden from 380,735 to 394,614 hours, a
difference of 13,879 hours. This increase in burden is due to an
increase in the number of projects and an increase in the number of
establishments.
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: Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution
Standards for Construction and General Industry and Electrical
Protective Equipment for Construction and General Industry.
OMB Control Number: 1218-0253.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 21,396.
Number of Responses: 2,067,172.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 394,614.
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 https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal; or (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. All comments, attachments, and other material must identify the
agency name and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA-2017-0005).
You may supplement electronic submission by uploading document files
electronically.
Comments and submissions are posted without change at https://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 https://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to read or download from this
website. All submission, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the https://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, on March 18, 2024.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2024-06153 Filed 3-22-24; 8:45 am]
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