Federal Register: October 3, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 192)
DOCID: FR Doc 01-24699
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Docket ID: [Docket No. ICR-1218-0242(2001)]
NOTICE: NOTICES
ACTION: Agency information collection activities:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Request for comment.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
OSHA requests comments on its proposal to increase the burden-
hour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collectionof
information requirements specified by the Standard on Powered
Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).\1\ This standard contains several
informationcollection requirements addressing truck design,
construction, and modification, as well as training certification for
truck operators. These requirements ensure that the trucks are in
proper working order and that truck operators have the requisite skills, knowledge, and ability to operate them safely.
\1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements
contained in this standard, the Agency estimates that the total
burden hours increased compared to its previous burdenhour
estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these
paperwork requirements in any substantive manner, only to increase
the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.
SUMMARY:
Proposed collection; comment request,
SUPPLEMENTAL 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 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This
[[Page 50456]]
program ensures that information is in the desired format, reporting
burden (time and costs) is minimal, collection instruments are
understandable, and OSHA's estimate of the informationcollection burden is correct.
The paperwork requirements in paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(6) of
the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks (the ``Standard'') specify
that employers must place a marker (e.g., label) on an approved truck
indicating that a national testing laboratory accepted its design and
construction,\2\ and must obtain the manufacturer's written approval
before modifying a truck in a manner that affects its capacity and safe
operation. If the manufacturer grants such approval, the employer must
revise capacity, operation, and maintenance instruction plates, tags,
and decals accordingly. For frontend attachments not installed by the
manufacturer, employers must provide a marker that identifies the
attachment, as well as the weight of both the truck and the attachment
when the attachment is at maximum elevation with a laterally center
load. Employers also must ensure that any marker required by these provisions remains affixed to trucks and is legible.
\2\ A national testing laboratory evaluates a truck's electrical system for fire safety.
Paragraphs (l)(1) through (l)(6) of the Standard contain the paperwork requirements necessary to certify the training provided to a truck operator. These paragraphs specify the duties and qualifications of training supervisors, program content, requirement for operator evaluation, conditions for refresher training, and operator certification.
Requiring markers notifies employees of the conditions under which they can safely operate the trucks, thereby preventing such hazards as fires and explosions caused by poorly designed electrical systems, rollovers/tipovers that result from exceeding a truck's stability characteristics, and falling loads that occur when loads exceed the lifting capacities of attachments. The trainingcertification requirement ensures the employer will know that an employee received the training necessary to operate a truck within its capacity and control limitations; this record also provides the most efficient means for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that an employer performed the required training. Therefore, by ensuring that employees operate only trucks that are in proper working order, and do so safely, employers prevent severe injury and death to truck operators and other employees who are in the vicinity of the trucks.
II. Special Issues for Comment
OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is proposing to increase the existing burdenhour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collectionofinformation requirements specified by the Standard. In this regard, the Agency is requesting to increase the current burdenhour estimate from 543,860 hours to 813,963 hours, a total increase 270,103 of hours. This adjustment occurred largely because OSHA is accounting for paperwork requirements in the Standard not included in the previous ICR, and because the number of operators requiring initial training, evaluation, and certification increased substantially. The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend its approval of these informationcollection requirements.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approval information collection requirements.
Title: Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).
OMB Number: 12180242.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit; notforprofit institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 4,400,000.
Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; annually; triennially.
Average Time per Response: Ranges from two minutes ((.03 hour) to mark an approved truck to 6.50 hours to train new truck operators.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 813,963.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.
IV. Authority and Signature
John L. Henshaw, 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. 32000 (65 FR 50017).
Signed at Washington, DC, on September 27, 2001. John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 0124699 Filed 10201; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 451026M
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety Standards Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693 2222. A copy of the Agency's InformationCollection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collections specified in the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or by requesting a copy from Theda Kenney at (202) 6932222 or Todd Owen at (202) 6932444. For electronic copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov, and select ``Information Collection Requests.''