[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22154-22155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9569]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0062]


Powered Industrial Trucks 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 
contained in the Powered Industrial Trucks Standard (29 CFR 1910.178). 
The information collection requirements address truck design, 
construction, and modification, as well as certification of training 
and evaluation for truck operators.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
June 20, 2011.

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, Docket No. OSHA-2011-0062, 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 OSHA 
docket number (OSHA-2011-0062) 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 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 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 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).
    Paragraph (a)(4) of the Standard requires that employers 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 
front-end attachments not installed by the manufacturer, paragraph 
(a)(5) mandates that employers provide a marker on the trucks 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 centered load. Paragraph (a)(6) specifies that employers must 
ensure that the markers required by paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(5) 
remain affixed to trucks and are legible.
    Paragraphs (l)(1) through (l)(6) of the Standard contain the 
paperwork requirements necessary to certify the training provided to 
powered industrial truck operators. Accordingly, these paragraphs 
specify the following requirements for employers:
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(1)--Ensure that trainees successfully 
complete the training and evaluation requirements of paragraph (l) 
prior to operating a truck without direct supervision.
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(2)--Allow trainees to operate a truck only 
under the direct supervision of an individual with the knowledge, 
training, and experience to train operators and to evaluate their 
performance, and under conditions that do not endanger other employees. 
The training program must consist of formal instruction, practical 
training, and evaluation of the trainee's performance in the workplace.
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(3)--Provide the trainees with initial 
training on each of 22 specified topics, except on topics that the 
employer demonstrates do not apply to the safe operation of the 
truck(s) in the employer's workplace.
    <bullet> Paragraphs (l)(4)(i) and (l)(4)(ii)--Administer refresher 
training and evaluation on relevant topics to operators found by 
observation or formal evaluation to have operated a truck unsafely, 
been involved in an accident or near-miss incident, or been assigned to 
operate another type of truck, or if the employer identifies a 
workplace condition that could affect safe truck operation.
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(4)(iii)--Evaluate each operator's 
performance at least once every three years.
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(5)--Train rehires only in specific topics 
that they performed unsuccessfully during an evaluation and that are 
appropriate to the employer's truck(s) and workplace conditions.
    <bullet> Paragraph (l)(6)--Certify that each operator meets the 
training and

[[Page 22155]]

evaluation requirements specified by paragraph (l). This certification 
must include the operator's name, the training date, the evaluation 
date, and the identity of the individual(s) who performed the training 
and evaluation.
    Requiring labels (markings) of modified equipment notifies 
employees of the conditions under which they can safely operate powered 
industrial 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. Certification of training and 
evaluation provides a means of informing employers that their employees 
received the training and demonstrated the performance necessary to 
operate a truck within its capacity and control limitations. Therefore, 
by ensuring that employees operate only trucks that are in proper 
working order, and do so safely, employers prevent possible severe 
injury or death of truck operators and other employees who are in the 
vicinity of the trucks. Finally, these paperwork requirements are the 
most efficient means for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that 
an employer properly notified employees regarding the design and 
construction of, and modifications made to, the trucks they are 
operating, and that their employer provided them with the required 
training.

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
    <bullet> Whether the proposed information collection requirements 
are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> The quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and
    <bullet> 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 information 
collection requirements contained in the Standard on Powered Industrial 
Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178). The Agency is requesting an increase to its 
current burden hour estimate of 33,706 hours (from 854,538 hours to 
888,244 hours). The increase is due to updated data indicating a rise 
in the number of powered industrial trucks from 1,134,699 to 1,179,441 
and the number of operators from 1,702,048 to 1,769,162. The Agency 
will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and 
will include this summary in the request to OMB.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).
    OMB Number: 1218-0242.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
    Number of Respondents: 1,769,162.
    Frequency: 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: 888,244.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $247,695.

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-2011-0062). 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 
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 through 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 through the Web site, and for assistance in 
using the Internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, PhD, 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. 4-2010 
(72 FR 55355).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on April 15, 2011.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-9569 Filed 4-19-11; 8:45 am]
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