2010-21529. Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

August 24, 2010.

The Department of Labor (DOL) hereby announces the submission of 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 the ICR, with applicable supporting documentation; including, among other things, a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the RegInfo.gov Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain or by contacting Linda Watts Thomas on 202-693-2443 (this is not a toll-free number)/e-mail: [e-mail].

Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Department of Labor—Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: [phone]/Fax: [phone] (these are not toll-free numbers), E-mail: [e-mail] within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register. In order to ensure the appropriate consideration, comments should reference the OMB Control Number (see below).

The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed information collection requirements are necessary for the proper performance 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 collections 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.

Type of Review: Extension without change of a previously approved collection.

Title of Collection: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 1910.1020)

OMB Control Number: 1218-0065.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 690,591.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 665,009.

Estimated Total Annual Costs Burden (Excludes Hourly Wage Costs): $0.

Description: Under the authority granted by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA published a health regulation governing access to worker exposure monitoring data and medical records. This regulation does not require employers to collect any information or to establish any new systems of records. Rather, it requires that employers provide workers, their designated representatives, and OSHA with access to worker exposure monitoring and medical records, and any analyses resulting from these records that employers must maintain under OSHA's toxic chemical and harmful physical agent standards. In this regard, the regulation specifies requirements for record access, record retention, worker information, trade secret management, and record transfer. Accordingly, the Agency attributes the burden hours and costs associated with exposure monitoring and measurement, medical surveillance, and the other activities required to generate the data governed by the regulation to the health standards that specify these activities; therefore, OSHA did not include these burden hours and costs in the ICR.

Access to exposure and medical information enables workers and their designated representatives to become directly involved in identifying and controlling occupational health hazards, as well as managing and preventing occupationally-related health impairment and disease. Providing the Agency with access to the records permits it to ascertain whether or not employers are complying with the regulation, as well as the recordkeeping requirements of its other health standards; therefore, OSHA access provides additional assurance that workers and their designated representative are able to obtain the data they need to conduct their analyses.

For additional information, see the related 60-day preclearance notice published in the Federal Register, April 26, 2010, (Vol. 75, page 21662).

Linda Watts Thomas,

Acting Departmental Clearance Officer.