03-18108. Standard on 4,4′-Methylenedianiline Construction (29 CFR 1926.60); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor

ACTION:

Request for comment.

SUMMARY:

OSHA requests comment concerning its proposed extension of the information-collection requirements specified by the Standard on 4,4′-Methylenedianiline Construction (29 CFR 1926.60). The standard protects employees from the adverse health effects that may result from occupational exposure to MDA, including cancer, and liver and skin disease.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by the following dates:

Hard Copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) by September 15, 2003.

Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be sent by Septembr 15, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

 

I. Submission of Comments

Regular mail, express delivery, hand-delivery, and messenger service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0183(2003), Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours of operation are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., EST.

Facsimile: If your comments, including any attachments, are 10 pages or fewer, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at [phone]. You must include the docket number ICR 1218-0183(2003), in your comments.

Electronic: You may submit comments, but not attachments, through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov.

II. Obtaining Copies of the Supporting Statement for the Information Collection Request

The Supporting Statement for the Information Collection Request is available for downloading from OSHA's Web site at www.osha.gov. The supporting statement is available for inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office, at the address listed above. A printed copy of the supporting statement can be obtained by contacting Todd Owen at [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone [phone].

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 accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and costs) is minimized, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) 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 information-collection requirements specified in the 4′,4′-Methylenedianiline Standard for Construction (the “MDA Standard”) protect employees from the adverse health effects that may result from their exposure to MDA, including cancer, and liver and skin disease. The major paperwork requirements specify that employers must perform initial, periodic, and additional exposure monitoring; within 15 days after receiving exposure-monitoring results, notify each employee in writing of their results; and routinely inspect the hands, face, and forearms of each employee potentially exposed to MDA for signs of dermal exposure to MDA. Employers must also: Establish a written compliance program; institute a respiratory-protection program in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134 (OSHA's Respiratory Protection Standard); and develop a written emergency plan for any construction operation that could have an emergency (i.e., an unexpected and potentially hazardous release of MDA).

Employers are to label any material or products containing MDA, including containers used to store MDA-contaminated protective clothing and equipment. They also must inform personnel who launder MDA-contaminated clothing of the requirement to prevent release of MDA, while personnel who launder or clean MDA-contaminated protective clothing or equipment must receive information about the potentially harmful effects of MDA. In addition, employers are to post warning signs at entrances or accessways to regulated areas, as well as train employees exposed to MDA at the time of their initial assignment, and at least annually thereafter.

Other paperwork provisions of the MDA Standard require employers to provide employees with medical examinations, including initial, periodic, emergency and follow-up examinations. As part of the medical-surveillance program, employers must ensure that the examining physician receives specific written information, and that they obtain from the physician a written opinion regarding the employee's medical results and exposure limitations.

The MDA Standard also specifies that employers are to establish and maintain exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records for each employee who is subject to these respective requirements, make any required record available to OSHA compliance officers and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for examination and copying, and provide exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records to employees and their designated representatives. Finally, employers who cease to do business within the period specified for retaining exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records, and who have no successor employer, must notify NIOSH at least 90 days before disposing of the records and transmit the records to NIOSH if so requested.

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 proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the collection-of-information requirements specified by the Standards on 4,4′-Methylenedianiline Construction (29 CFR 1926.60). The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend in the approval of these information-collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information-collection requirement.

Title: Standard on 4,4′-Methylenedianiline Construction (29 CFR 1926.60).

OMB Number: 1218-0183.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit institutions; Federal government; State, local, or tribal Governments.

Number of Respondents: 66.

Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion.

Average Time per Response: Varies from one minute (.08 hour) to provide information to the physician and 2 hours for initial monitoring.

Total Annual Hours Requested: 1,609.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $80,437.

IV. Authority and Signature

John L. Henshaw, 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), and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 5-2002 (67 FR 65008).

Signed at Washington, DC, on July 14, 2003.

John L. Henshaw,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.