83 FR 2468 - Electrical Standards for Construction and General Industry; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 11 (January 17, 2018)

OSHA solicits public comments concerning its request for an extension of the information collection requirements contained in the Electrical Standards for Construction and for General Industry. The Standards address safety procedures for installation and maintenance of electric utilization equipment that prevent death and serious injuries among construction and general industry workers in the workplace caused by electrical hazards.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2468-2469]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00703]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187]


Electrical Standards for Construction and General Industry; 
Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of 
the 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 request for an 
extension of the information collection requirements contained in the 
Electrical Standards for Construction and for General Industry. The 
Standards address safety procedures for installation and maintenance of 
electric utilization equipment that prevent death and serious injuries 
among construction and general industry workers in the workplace caused 
by electrical hazards.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
March 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: 
    Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at https://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, Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
Room N3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. 
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are 
accepted during the Docket Office's normal business hours, 10:00 a.m. 
to 3:00 p.m., ET.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA 
docket number (OSHA-2011-0187) 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 https://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 https://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 https://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 Theda Kenney at 
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Theda Kenney or Charles McCormick, 
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Washington, DC; telephone (202) 693-2222 or email: https://www.regulations.gov.

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 OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 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 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 efforts in obtaining information 
(29 U.S.C. 657).
    The information collection requirements specified by the Electrical 
Standards for Construction and for General Industry alert workers to 
the presence and types of electrical hazards in the workplace, thereby 
preventing serious injury and death by electrocution. The information 
collection requirements in these Standards involve the following: the 
employer using electrical equipment that is marked with the 
manufacturer's name, trademark, or other descriptive markings that 
identify the producer of the equipment, and marking the equipment with 
the voltage, current, wattage, or other ratings necessary; requiring 
each disconnecting means for motors and appliances to be marked legibly 
to indicate its purpose, unless located and arranged so the purpose is 
evident; requiring the entrances to rooms and other guarded locations 
containing exposed live parts to be marked with conspicuous warning 
signs forbidding unqualified persons from

[[Page 2469]]

entering; and, for construction employers only, establishing and 
implementing the assured equipment grounding conductor program instead 
of using ground-fault circuit interrupters.

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 
cost) 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 proposing a decrease adjustment to the existing burden 
hours from 220,789 hours to 194,976 hours for the Electrical Standards 
for Construction and for General Industry, a total decrease of 25,813. 
The cost of the labels is $4.25, which increased from $3.75, a 
difference of 50 cents. The cost of caution and warning signs remains 
$10.95. The total cost over a five-year period to the employer is 
$25,476,949 (or $5,095,390 per year). The Agency will summarize any 
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 contained in these Standards.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, 
subpart K) and for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, subpart S).
    OMB Number: 1218-0130.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 915,681.
    Frequency of Response: Occasionally.
    Total Responses: 2,841,370.
    Average Time per Response: Various.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 194,976.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $5,095,390.

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 https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax); or (3) by hard copy. All 
comments, attachments, and other materials must identify the Agency 
name and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2011-
0187). 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 https://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 https://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted 
material) is not publicly available to read or download through this 
website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available 
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on 
using the https://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.

V. Authority and Signature

    Loren Sweatt, 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. 1-2012 (77 FR 
3912).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on January 10, 2018.
Loren Sweatt,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2018-00703 Filed 1-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-26-P