[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42829-42830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21012]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. NRTL-1-89]


Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. (ITS) [Formerly Inchcape 
Testing Services NA, Inc. (ITS)]

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Notice of requests for expansion of recognition as a Nationally 
Recognized Testing Laboratory, and preliminary findings. Notice of name 
change of Inchcape Testing Services NA, Inc.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the applications of Intertek Testing 
Services NA Inc. for expansion of its recognition as a Nationally 
Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL), for laboratory facilities, under 
29 CFR 1910.7, and presents the Agency's preliminary finding. In 
addition, the applicant has requested a change of name resulting from 
its acquisition by Charterhouse Development Capital Limited 
(Charterhouse).

DATES: The last date for interested parties to submit comments is 
October 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: NRTL Recognition Program, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N3653, 
200 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Variance Determination, NRTL 
Recognition Program, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N3653, 
Washington, DC 20210.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Application

    Notice is hereby given that Intertek Testing Services NA Inc. 
(ITS), has made application, pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.7, for expansion 
of its recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory for 
the laboratory sites listed below. The applicant also informed OSHA of 
a change of name to Intertek Testing Services NA Inc. (ITS). (Note that 
the abbreviation ``ITS'' will remain, as utilized under its previous 
owner, where its name was Inchcape Testing Services NA, Inc.). 
Previously, as ETL Testing Laboratories, Inc. (ETL), it made 
application pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.7, for recognition as a Nationally 
Recognized Testing Laboratory (see 54 FR 8411, 2/28/89), and was so 
recognized (see 54 FR 37845, 9/13/89); made application for expansion 
of its recognition (see 55 FR 43229, 10/26/90), and was so recognized 
(see 55 FR 51971, 12/18/90; see also correction, 56 FR 2953, 1/25/91); 
made application for expansion of its recognition (see 57 FR 54422, 11/
18/92), and was so recognized (see 58 FR 37749, 7/13/93; see also 
correction, 58 FR 47001, 9/3/93); applied for expansion of its 
recognition (see 61 FR 41659, 8/9/96), was so recognized, the document 
further including the name change from ETL Testing Laboratories, Inc. 
(ETL), to Inchcape Testing Services NA Inc. (ITS), and noting the 
voluntary termination of recognition of Dash, Straus & Goodhue (DS&G) 
(see 61 FR 59111, 11/20/96).
    The addresses of the concerned laboratories are:

Inchcape Testing Services NA Inc., 530 Garcia Avenue, Pittsburg, 
California 94565;
Inchcape Testing Services NA Ltd., 211 Schoolhouse Street, Coquitlam, 
British Columbia, V3K 4X9 Canada;
Inchcape Testing Services Hong Kong Ltd., 2/F., Garment Centre, 576 
Castle Peak Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong;
Inchcape Testing Services Taiwan Ltd., 14/F Huei Fung Building 27, 
Chung Shan North Road, Sec. 3, Taipei, Taiwan.

Expansion of Recognition

    On August 24, 1994, Intertek Testing Services NA Inc., as 
``Inchcape'', made individual applications for expansion of its 
recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. The 
applications were for the recognition of additional sites, and included 
facilities located in Taipei, Taiwan (see Exhibit 25A), and Kowloon, 
Hong Kong (see Exhibit 25B). On-site investigations of these facilities 
had been carried out previously as part of a large-scale overseas 
investigation of sites requested for recognition by several other 
NRTLs. Survey Reports, dated December 15, 1994, of the investigation of 
the Taipei, Taiwan site [see Exhibit 25E(4)], and of the Kowloon, Hong 
Kong site, [see Exhibit 25E(3)], both carried out in September, 1993, 
were prepared. On April 3, 1996, ITS applied for an expansion of its 
recognition for yet other sites including two former Warnock Hersey 
sites, now owned by ITS, in Pittsburg, California and Coquitlam, 
British Columbia (see Exhibit 25D). The test standards requested for 
these two sites were: ASTM E152--Fire Test Method for Door Assemblies, 
and ASTM E163--Standard Method of Fire Tests of Window Assemblies, both 
of which are appropriate as stipulated in 29 CFR 1910.7(c)(4). In 
addition, ITS informed OSHA of the official transfer of ownership of 
the Warnock Hersey, Inc., ``WHI'' Patent Office registered 
certification mark to ITS, which will be used by ITS to identify 
products certified at the two facilities and under the two test 
standards noted above (see Exhibit 25C).

Change of Name

    OSHA was notified by letter, dated December 6, 1996, of a change in 
ownership of Inchcape Testing Services NA, Inc. (see Exhibit 25F). At 
the time, no change of corporate name was requested, although OSHA was 
informed that such a request would be made at a later date. Such a 
request for name change was made by letter dated April 14, 1997 (see 
Exhibit 25G). The requested name change was from Inchcape Testing 
Services NA, Inc. to Intertek Testing Services NA Inc. The abbreviation 
of the company name as ``ITS'' would continue to be used.

Preliminary Finding

    The NRTL Program staff made an in-depth study of the details of 
ITS's original recognition and previous expansions of its recognition 
[as ETL Testing Laboratories, Inc. (ETL), and as ``Inchcape''], the 
applications, and determined that ITS had the staff capability and the 
necessary equipment at the sites in question to conduct testing of 
products using, in the first instance, the previously recognized and, 
in the second instance, the proposed test standards. A Report of ITS's 
request for expansion of its recognition prepared by the Lead Assessor 
for the NRTL Program, dated February 26, 1997, was sent to the Program 
Director of the NRTL Program detailing his recommendations (see Exhibit 
25E). The NRTL staff determined that seven of the eleven sites which 
had been requested by ITS for recognition would require an on-site 
investigation before a decision could be rendered. The remaining four 
sites were recommended for recognition based upon one or all of the 
following factors:

1. Previous on-site investigations.
2. Modification of the operating and control systems at the Cortland 
Corporate headquarters.
3. Audits carried out during the previous four years.

    This recommendation also applied to the request for the test 
standards to be used at Coquitlam, B. C. and the Pittsburg, CA 
locations.
    Based upon a review of the completed application files, the on-site 
assessment reports, and the recommendations of the NRTL Program staff, 
the Assistant

[[Page 42830]]

Secretary has made a preliminary finding that the four Intertek Testing 
Services NA, Inc. facilities for which expansion of its recognition was 
requested can meet the requirements as prescribed in 29 CFR 1910.7.
    All interested members of the public are invited to supply detailed 
reasons and evidence supporting or challenging the sufficiency of the 
applicant's having met the requirements for expansion of its 
recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, as required 
by 29 CFR 1910.7 and Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. Submission of 
pertinent written documents and exhibits shall be made no later than 
October 7, 1997, and must be addressed to the NRTL Recognition Program, 
Office of Variance Determination, Room N3653, Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20210. Copies of the ITS applications, the 
laboratory survey reports, the notification of change of ownership and 
name, and all submitted comments, as received (Docket No. NRTL-1-89), 
are available for inspection and duplication at the Docket Office, Room 
N2634, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department 
of Labor, at the above address.
    The Assistant Secretary's final decision on whether the applicant 
(Intertek Testing Services NA Inc.) satisfies the requirements for 
expansion of its recognition as an NRTL will be made on the basis of 
the entire record including the public submissions and any further 
proceedings that the Assistant Secretary may consider appropriate in 
accordance with Appendix A to Section 1910.7.

    Signed at Washington, D.C. this 30th day of July 1997.
Greg Watchman,
Acting Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-21012 Filed 8-7-97; 8:45 am]
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