[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22180-22181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06759]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2009-0028]
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for General Industry
Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for the
information collection requirements specified in its Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) for General Industry Standard.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
May 28, 2024.
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.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to https://www.regulations.gov. 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 through the OSHA
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY
(877) 889-5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA
docket number OSHA-2009-0028 for the Information Collection Request
(ICR). OSHA will place all comments, including any personal
information, in the public docket, which may be made available online.
Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties about submitting personal
information such as social security numbers and birthdates.
For further information on submitting comments, see the ``Public
Participation'' heading in the section of this notice titled
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman, Directorate of
Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor; telephone (202)
693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of the 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 (PRA) (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, the collection instruments are clearly understood, and
OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. The
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (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 effort in
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
Subpart I specify several paperwork requirements. The following
sections describe who uses the information collected under each
requirement, as well as how they use it.
Hazard Assessment and Verification
(Section 1910.132(d) & (g))
Paragraph 1910.132(d)(1) and the Personal Fall Protection standard
require that employers perform a hazard assessment of the workplace to
determine whether hazards are present, or likely to be present, that
make the use
of PPE necessary.\1\ Where such hazards are present, employers must
select and have each affected worker use PPE that protects them from
the identified hazards (section 1910.132(d)(1)(i)), and communicate PPE
selection decisions to each affected worker (section
1910.132(d)(1)(ii)).
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\1\ Section 1910.132 (g) specifies that the hazard assessment
(29 CFR 1910.132(d)) requirements only apply to PPE for the eyes,
face, head, feet, and hands. The final rule revised (29 CFR 1910.132
(g)) to also apply the hazard assessment requirements to personal
fall protection systems.
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Paragraph 1910.132(d)(2) requires that employers certify in writing
they have performed the required hazard assessment. The certification
must include the date, the name of the person certifying that the
hazard assessment was conducted, and identification of the workplace
evaluated (area or location). The Personal Fall Protection standard
expands the hazard assessment requirement to personal fall protection
systems (section 1910.132(g)).
Conducting a PPE hazard assessment ensures that potential workplace
hazards necessitating PPE use have been identified and that the PPE
selected is appropriate for those hazards and the affected workers.
Communicating information on PPE selection decisions to affected
workers ensures they are aware that the PPE selected will protect them
from the hazards that the assessment identified. The certification of
the hazard assessment verifies that employers have conducted the
required assessment.
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 is requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) for General Industry standard. The agency is requesting a
decrease in burden hours from 3,778,003 to 3,683,262, a difference of
94,741 hours. The changes in the number of establishments using fall
protection accounts for the net decrease in burden hours.
OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this
notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend
the approval of the information collection requirements.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for General Industry
Standard.
OMB Control Number: 1218-0205.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 2,421,683.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Total Responses: 2,347,415.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,683,262.
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
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (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. All comments, attachments, and other
material must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number for
the ICR (OSHA-2009-0028). You may supplement electronic submissions by
uploading document files electronically.
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
dates 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 from this
website. 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 at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-
5627) for information about materials not available from the website,
and for assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
James S. Frederick, Deputy 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. 8-2020
(85 FR 58393).
Signed at Washington, DC, on March 18, 2024.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2024-06759 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
