[Federal Register: August 16, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 158)][Notices] [Page 47253-47255]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16au06-129]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. ICR-1218-0183(2006)]
Standard on 4,4'-Methylenedianiline in Construction; 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.
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SUMMARY: OSHA requests comment concerning its proposed extension of the
information collection requirements specified by the Standard on 4,4'-
Methylenedianiline (MDA) in 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 comment must be submitted (postmarked or received)
by October 16, 2006.
Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be
received by October 16, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by OSHA Docket No. ICR-
1218-0183(2006), by any of the following methods:
I. Submission of Comments
Regular mail, express delivery, hand delivery, and messenger
service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket
Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350 (OSHA's TTY number
is (877) 889-5627). OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours
are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.
Facsimile: If your comments are 10 pages or fewer in length,
including attachments, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at
(202) 693-1648.
Electronic: You may submit comments through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov.
Docket: For access to the docket to read or download comments or
background materials, such as the complete Information Collection
Request (ICR) (containing the Supporting Statement, OMB-83-I Form, and
attachments), go to OSHA's Web page at http://www.OSHA.gov. In
addition, the ICR, comments, and submissions are available for
inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the address above.
You may also contact Todd Owen at the address below to obtain a copy of
the ICR. For additional information on submitting comments, please see
the ``Public Participation'' section in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamaa Hill 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 (202)
693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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 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 he 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; notify each
employee in writing of their results as soon as possible, but no longer
than 5 days after receiving exposure-monitoring 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 access ways to regulated areas, as well as train
employees who may be exposed to MDA both 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 employees, 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
Standard on 4,4'-Methylenedianiline in Construction (29 CFR 1926.60), and to
decrease the total burden hour estimates by two hours. The Agency 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
these information collection requirements.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently-approved information
collection requirement.
Title: 4,4'-Methylenedianiline Standard for 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; quarterly; semi-annually;
annually.
Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) to
provide information to the physician to 2 hours for initial monitoring.
Total Annual Hours Requested: 1,607.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $80,412.
IV. Authority and Signature
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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 August 9, 2006.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 06-6946 Filed 8-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M
