Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 22, 2023 / Notices 81435 

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. 

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public 

comments concerning the proposal to 

extend the Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) approval of the 

information collection requirements 

specified in the Fire Brigades Standard. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

(postmarked, sent, or received) by 

January 22, 2024. 

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. 

Docket: To read or download 

comments or other material in the 

docket, go to https://

www.regulations.gov. Documents in the 

docket 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 

through the OSHA Docket Office. 

Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 

693–2350 (TTY (877) 889–5627) for 

assistance in locating docket 

submissions. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and OSHA 

docket number (OSHA–2011–0009) for 

the Information Collection Request 

(ICR). OSHA will place all comments, 

including any personal information, in 

the public docket, which may be made 

available online. Therefore, OSHA 

cautions interested parties about 

submitting personal information such as 

social security numbers and birthdates. 

For further information on submitting 

comments, see the ‘‘Public 

Participation’’ heading in the section of 

this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Seleda Perryman or Theda Kenney, 

Directorate of Standards and Guidance, 

OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor; 

telephone (202) 693–2222. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Department of Labor, as part of 

the 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 (PRA) 

(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, the collection 

instruments are clearly understood, and 

OSHA’s estimate of the information 

collection burden is accurate. The 

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 

1970 (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 

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 effort 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. 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 

brigade members of special hazards, 

such as the storage and use of 

flammable liquids and gases, toxic 

chemicals, radioactive sources, waterreactive substances that may be present 

during fires and other emergencies, and 

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 to protect workers, 

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 that OMB extend 

the approval of the information 

collection requirements contained in the 


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81436 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 22, 2023 / Notices 

Fire Brigades Standard (29 CFR 

1910.156). The agency is requesting an 

adjustment decrease in burden hours 

from 2,767 to 2,695, a total decrease of 

72 hours. The adjustment is due to a 

decrease in the number of 

manufacturing facilities with 100 or 

more workers from 25,546 to 24,885. 

Also, the number of responses 

decreased from 3,832 to 3,733. 

OSHA will summarize the 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. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Title: The Fire Brigades Standard (29 

CFR 1910.156). 

OMB Control Number: 1218–0075. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofits. 

Number of Respondents: 24,885. 

Number of Responses: 3,733. 

Frequency of Responses: On occasion. 

Average Time per Response: Varies. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,695. 

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 https://

www.regulations.gov, which is the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal; (2) by 

facsimile (fax); if your comments, 

including attachments, are not longer 

than 10 pages you may fax them to the 

OSHA Docket Office at 202–693–1648; 

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. 

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 dates 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 from 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 at 

(202) 693–2350, (TTY (877) 889–5627) 

for information about materials not 

available from the website, and for 

assistance in using the internet to locate 

docket submissions. 

V. Authority and Signature 

James S. Frederick, 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. 8–2020 (85 FR 58393). 

Signed at Washington, DC. 

James S. Frederick, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for 

Occupational Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25800 Filed 11–21–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

[Docket No. OSHA–2007–0043] 

TUV SUD America, Inc.: Applications 

for Expansion of Recognition 

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this notice, OSHA 

announces the applications of TUV SUD 

America, Inc. (TUVAM) for expansion 

of recognition as a Nationally 

Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) 

and presents the agency’s preliminary 

finding to grant the applications. 

DATES: Submit comments, information, 

and documents in response to this 

notice, or requests for an extension of 

time to make a submission, on or before 

December 7, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted as follows: 

Electronically: You may submit 

comments, including attachments, 

electronically at http://

www.regulations.gov, the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency’s name and the 

docket number for this rulemaking 

(Docket No. OSHA–2007–0043). 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. Therefore, OSHA 

cautions commenters about submitting 

information they do not want made 

available to the public, or submitting 

materials that contain personal 

information (either about themselves or 

others), such as Social Security numbers 

and birthdates. 

Docket: To read or download 

comments or other material in the 

docket, go to http://

www.regulations.gov. 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 

through the OSHA Docket Office. 

Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 

693–2350 (TTY (877) 889–5627) for 

assistance in locating docket 

submissions. 

Extension of comment period: Submit 

requests for an extension of the 

comment period on or before December 

7, 2023 to the Office of Technical 

Programs and Coordination Activities, 

Directorate of Technical Support and 

Emergency Management, Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Avenue NW, Room N–3653, 

Washington, DC 20210, or by fax to 

(202) 693–1644. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Information regarding this notice is 

available from the following sources: 

Press inquiries: Contact Mr. Frank 

Meilinger, Director, OSHA Office of 

Communications, U.S. Department of 

Labor by phone: (202) 693–1999 or 

email: meilinger.francis2@dol.gov. 

General and technical information: 

Contact Mr. Kevin Robinson, Director, 

Office of Technical Programs and 

Coordination Activities, Directorate of 

Technical Support and Emergency 

Management, Occupational Safety and 

Health Administration, U.S. Department 

of Labor by phone: (202) 693–1911 or 

email: robinson.kevin@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Notice of the Applications for 

Expansion 

OSHA is providing notice that TUV 

SUD America, Inc. (TUVAM) is 

applying for expansion of the current 

recognition as a NRTL. TUVAM 

requests the addition of two recognized 

testing standards and one recognized 

testing site to the NRTL scope of 

recognition. 

OSHA recognition of a NRTL signifies 

that the organization meets the 

requirements specified in 29 CFR 

1910.7. Recognition is an 

acknowledgment that the organization 


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