03-8083. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

March 27, 2003.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted the following public information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling the Department of Labor. To obtain documentation, contact Darrin King on [phone] or e-mail: [e-mail].

Comments should be sent to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for OSHA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 ([phone]), within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register.

The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Title: Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI).

OMB Number: 1218-0143.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal Government; and State, Local, or Tribal Government.

Frequency: On occasion, initially, and annually.

Type of Response: Recordkeeping and Third party disclosure.

Number of Respondents: 0.

Number of Annual Responses: 0.

Estimated Time Per Response: 0 minutes.

Total Burden Hours: 1.

Total Annualized Capital/Startup Costs: $0.

Total Annual Costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing services): $0.

Description: A number of paragraphs in OSHA's Standard on Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI) (29 CFR 1910.217(h)) (the “Standard”) contain paperwork requirements that are necessary to validate employer and manufacturer certifications that their PSDI equipment and practices meet the requirements of the Standard.

These requirements include: Certifying brake-monitor adjustments, alternatives to photoelectric Presence Sensing Devices (PSDs), safety-system design and installation, and employee training; annual recertification of safety systems; establishing and maintaining the original certification and validation records, as well as the most recent recertification and revalidation records; affixing labels to test rods and to certified and recertified presses; and notifying an OSHA-recognized third-party validation organization when a safety system component fails, the employer modifies the safety system, or a point-of-operation injury occurs. In addition, Appendix A of § 1910.217 provides detailed information and procedures required to meet the certification/validation provisions, as well as the design requirements, contained in the Standard. Accordingly, Appendix A supplements and explains the certification/validation provisions of the PSDI Standard, and does not specify new or additional paperwork requirements for employers. Appendix C § 1910.217 describes the requirements and procedures for obtaining OSHA recognition as a third-party validation organization; therefore, the paperwork requirements specified by this appendix do not impose burden hours or cost directly on employers who use PSDs.

By complying with these paperwork requirements, employers ensure that PSDI-equipped mechanical power presses are in safe working order, thereby preventing severe injury and death to press operators and other employees who work near this equipment. In addition, these records provide the most efficient means for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that an employer performed the requirements and that the equipment is safe.

OSHA is proposing to extend OMB approval of the information-collection requirements specified by the Standard even though the Agency can attribute no burden hours and cost to these requirements—to date, no such presses appear to be in use, either because employers selected other stroke-control devices for mechanical power presses, or because no third-party organization is available to validate employer and manufacturer certifications that their PSDI equipment and practices meet the requirements of the Standard. Therefore, the Standard does not currently affect any known employer; accordingly, the paperwork requirements currently result in no burden hours or cost to employers.

On August 28, 2002, OSHA published a Federal Register notice (67 FR 55181, Docket No. S225A) that initiated a Regulatory Flexibility Act review of the Presence Sensing Device Initiation (PSDI) requirements of the Mechanical Power Press Standard, pursuant to Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Section 5 of Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review.

The purpose of this review is to determine, while protecting worker safety, whether there are ways to modify this standard to make implementation more practical, to reduce regulatory burden on small business and to improve its effectiveness.

OSHA is proposing that OMB extend its approval of the information-collection requirements specified by the Standard so that the Agency can enforce these requirements if employers begin using PSDI.

Ira L. Mills,

Departmental Clearance Officer.