[Federal Register: February 15, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 31)][Notices] [Page 7465-7467]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15fe07-98]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009]
Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records;
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.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements
contained in its Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical
Records (29 CFR 1910.1020).
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent or received) by
April 16, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, by any of the following methods:
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.
Fax: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer than
10 pages, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service:
You must submit three copies of your comments and attachments to the
OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009, U.S. Department of
Labor, 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.-4:45 p.m., e.t.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA
docket number for this information collection request (ICR) (OSHA
Docket No. OSHA-2007-0009). 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 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
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 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 website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Todd Owen at
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
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:
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 Act) authorizes
information collection requirements 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).
Under the authority granted by the Act, OSHA published a health
regulation governing access to employee 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 employees, their designated
representatives, and OSHA with access to employee exposure monitoring
and medical records, and any analyses resulting from these records. In
this regard, the regulation specifies requirements for record access,
record retention, employee 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 this ICR.
Access to exposure and medical information enables employees 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
employees and their designated representatives are able to obtain the
data they need to conduct their analyses.
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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the collection
of information requirements specified by the Regulation on Access to
Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 1910.1020). This request
includes an increase of 158,880 burden 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 currently approved information
collection requirements.
Title: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR
1910.1020).
OMB Number: 1218-0065.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal government;
State, local, or tribal governments.
Number of Respondents: 734,820.
Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) for
employers to provide OSHA with access to records to 10 minutes (.17
hour) to maintain employee records.
Total Annual Hours Requested: 720,187.
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 (1)
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2007-
0009). You may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document
files electronically. If, instead, you wish to mail additional
materials in reference to an electronic or fax submission, you must
submit them to the OSHA Docket Office (see ADDRESSES section). The
additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments by
your name, date, and docket number so OSHA can attach them to your
comments.
Because of security-related 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 (202) 693-2350 (TTY (877) 889-5627).
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 publicly available
to read or download through http://www.regulations.gov.
All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for
inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using
the http://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and access the docket
is available at the website's "User Tips" link. Contact the OSHA Docket
Office for information about materials not available through the website,
and for assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.
Electronic copies of this Federal Register document are available
at http://www.regulations.gov. This document, as well as news releases and
other relevant information, also are available at OSHA's webpage at
http://www.osha.gov.
V. 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 February 12, 2007.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. E7-2673 Filed 2-14-07; 8:45 am]
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