[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29803-29804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12023]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009]
Fire Brigades Standard; 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 comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements
specified in the Fire Brigades Standard (29 CFR 1910.156).
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
July 22, 2014.
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 (202) 693-
1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service:
When using this method, you must submit a copy of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009,
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 the
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2011-0009) for the Information Collection
Request (ICR). 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 from 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 (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 accord with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (PRA-95) (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 OSHA to 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).
OSHA does not mandate that employers establish fire brigades;
however, if they do so, they must comply with the provisions of the
Fire Brigades Standard. The provisions of the Standard, including the
paperwork requirements, apply to fire brigades, industrial fire
departments, and private or contract fire departments, but not to
airport crash rescue units or forest firefighting operations.
Paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), and (c)(4) contain the paperwork
requirements of the Standard.
Under paragraph (b)(1) of the Standard, employers must develop and
maintain an organizational statement that establishes the: existence of
a fire brigade; the basic organizational structure of the brigade;
type, amount, and frequency of training provided to brigade members;
expected number of members in the brigade; and functions that the
brigade is to perform. This paragraph also specifies that the
organizational statement must be available for review by workers, their
designated representatives, and OSHA compliance officers. The
organizational statement describes the functions performed by the
brigade members and, thereby, determines the level of training and type
of personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for these members to
perform their assigned functions safely. Making the statement available
to workers, their designated representatives, and OSHA compliance
officers ensures that the elements of the statement are consistent with
the functions performed by the brigade members and the occupational
hazards they experience, and that employers are providing training and
PPE appropriate to these functions and hazards.
To permit a worker with known heart disease, epilepsy, or emphysema
to participate in fire brigade emergency activities, paragraph (b)(2)
of the Standard requires employers to obtain a physician's certificate
of the worker's fitness to do so. This provision provides employers
with a direct and efficient means of ascertaining whether or not they
can safely expose workers with these medical conditions to the hazards
of firefighting operations.
Paragraph (c)(4) of the Standard requires employers to inform fire
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brigade members regarding special hazards such as the storage and use
of flammable liquids and gases, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources,
and water-reactive substances that may be present during fires and
other emergencies, as well as about any changes in these special
hazards. It also requires that employers develop written procedures
describing the actions that brigade members are to take when special
hazards are present, and to make these procedures available in the
education and training program and for review by brigade members.
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 an adjustment decrease of the previous estimate
of 6,292 burden hours to 2,510 burden hours, a total decrease of 3,782
hours. The adjustment is primarily due to a decrease in the estimated
number of manufacturing facilities with 100 or more workers.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Fire Brigades Standards (29 CFR 1910.156).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0075.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 23,247.
Total Responses: 3,487.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) to
obtain a physician's certificate to 2 hours to develop or revise an
organizational plan.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,510.
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); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0009). 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 (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 from 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 at the Web site's ``User Tips'' link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not
available from this Web site and for assistance in using the Internet
to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 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. 1-2012
(77 FR 3912).
Signed at Washington, DC on May 20, 2014.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-12023 Filed 5-22-14; 8:45 am]
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