E9-21332. The Standard on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Shipyard Employment; 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 comment.

SUMMARY:

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Standard on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR part 1915, subpart I).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by November 3, 2009.

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.

Facsimile: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer than 10 pages, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at [phone].

Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service: When using this method, you must submit three copies of your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0017, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket Office's normal business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.

Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA docket number for the Information Collection Request (ICR) (OSHA-2009-0017). All comments, including any personal information you provide, are placed in the public docket without change, and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further information on submitting comments see the “Public Participation” heading in the section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. All documents in the docket (including this Federal Register notice) 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 Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Theda Kenney or 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 minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the 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 efforts in obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).

Subpart I specifies several paperwork requirements, which are described below.

(A) Hazard Assessment and Verification (§ 1915.152(b)). Section 1915.152(b) requires the employer to assess work activities to determine whether there are hazards present, or likely to be present, which necessitate the worker's use of PPE. If such hazards are present, or likely to be present, the employer must: (1) Select the type of PPE that will protect the affected workers from the hazards identified in the occupational hazard assessment; (2) communicate selection decisions to affected workers; (3) select PPE that properly fits each affected worker; and (4) verify that the required occupational hazard assessment has been performed. The verification must contain the following information: Occupation or trade assessed, the date(s) of the hazard assessment, and the name of the person performing the hazard assessment.

(B) Training and Verification (§ 1915.152(e)). Section 1910.152(e) requires that employers provide training for each worker who is required to wear PPE (§ 1915.152(e)(1)). Paragraph (e)(3) requires that employers also provide retraining when there are certain changes in workplace conditions or there is reason to believe that any previously trained worker does not have the understanding or skill to use PPE properly. Circumstances where such retraining is required include changes in the workplace that render prior training obsolete, certain changes in the types of PPE used, and inadequacies in the worker's knowledge or use of PPE that indicate the worker had not retained the requisite understanding or skill.

Paragraph (e)(4) requires that the employer verify that each affected worker has received the required PPE training. The verification must contain the following information: Name of each worker trained, the date(s) of training, and the type of training the worker received.

The standards on PPE protection for the eyes and face (§ 1915.153), head (§ 1915.155), feet (§ 1915.156), hands and body (§ 1915.157), lifesaving equipment (§ 1915.158), personal fall arrest systems (§ 1915.159), and positioning device systems (§ 1915.160) do not contain any separate information collection requirements.

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, 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 its approval of the collection of information requirements contained in the Standard on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR part 1915, subpart I). The Agency is requesting an adjustment to the burden hours from 2,041 to 2,827 hours (an increase of 786 hours). The increase in the burden hours can be attributed to the number of existing workers increasing from 62,191 to 86,764.

OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Standard on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR Part 1915, Subpart I).

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Title: Personal Protective Equipment Standard for Shipyard Employment (29 CFR part 1915, subpart I).

OMB Number: 1218-0215.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.

Total Responses: 108,335.

Frequency: On occasion.

Estimated Time per Response: Varies from 1 minute (.02 hour) for employers to maintain the certification record for each worker to 5 minutes to record the hazard assessment for each occupation covered.

Total Burden Hours: 2,827.

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 e-Rulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name and OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2009-0017). You may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES). The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments by your name, date, and the docket number so the Agency can attach them to your comments.

Because of security procedures, the use of regular mail may cause a significant delay in the receipt of comments. For information about security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by hand, express delivery, messenger, or courier service, please contact the OSHA Docket Office at [phone] (TTY [phone]).

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 date of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publically available to read or download through this Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site to submit comments and access the docket is available through the Web site's “User Tips” link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not available through the Web site, and for assistance in using the Internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

Jordan Barab, Acting 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. 5-2007 (72 FR 31160).

Signed at Washington, DC, this 28th day of August 2009.

Jordan Barab,

Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.