[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29601-29602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13691]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0095(2001)]


Concrete and Masonry Construction; Extension of the Office of 
Management of Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information-Collection 
(Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its request to decrease the 
existing burden-hour estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the 
collection-of-information requirements of 29 CFR 1926, subpart Q 
(``Concrete and Masonry Construction''). After a thorough review of the 
paperwork requirements specified by this subpart, the Agency determined 
that none of them results in burden hours or costs as specified by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before July 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0095(2001), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less by 
facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen M. Martinez, Directorate of 
Policy, Office of Regulatory Analysis, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone (202) 693-1953. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection 
Request (``ICR'') describing the information collections specified by 
29 CFR 1926, subpart Q is available for inspection and copying in the 
Docket Office or by requesting a copy from Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. 
For electronic copies of the ICR contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/comp-links.html and select ``Information Collection 
Requests.''

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 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and cost) 
is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct.
    After a thorough review of the seven standards in 29 CFR 1926, 
subpart Q (hereafter, ``Subpart''), OSHA identified a number of 
paperwork requirements; however, it determined that none of these 
requirements impose burden hours or costs on respondents as specified 
by PRA-95. These requirements, and the rationale for excluding them 
from the provisions of PRA-95 regulating burden-hour and cost 
determinations, are:
    <bullet> The warning signs specified for post-tensioning areas by 
paragraph (c)(2) of Sec. 1926.701 (``General Requirements''), and the 
requirements to lock-out and tag-out ejection systems and other 
hazardous equipment mandated by paragraphs (a)(2), (j)(1), and (j)(2), 
of Sec. 1926.702 (``Requirements for Equipment and Tools''), because 
paragraphs Sec. 1926.701(c)(2) and Sec. 1926.702(a)(2) imply the 
wording for the required warning signs and ejection-system tags, while 
paragraph Sec. 1926.702(j)(2) provides the exact wording for the 
hazardous-equipment tags;
    <bullet> Paragraph (a)(2) of Sec. 1926.703 (``Requirements for 
Cast-in-Place Concrete''), which requires employers to make available 
at the jobsite drawings or plans for the jack layout, formwork 
(including shoring equipment), working decks, and scaffolds, as well as 
revisions to these documents, because having these drawings or plans 
available at the jobsite is a usual and customary business practice;
    <bullet> Provisions in Sec. 1926.703 addressing shoring design 
(paragraph (b)(8)(i)) and formwork-removal plans (paragraph (e)(1)(i)) 
because these provisions are part of the general design-and-planning 
requirement of paragraph (a)(2);
    <bullet> The designs and plans specified by paragraph (a) of 
Sec. 1926.705 (``Requirements for Lift-Slab Construction Operations'') 
because employers develop and use these documents as a usual and 
customary business practice; and
    <bullet> Marking the rated capacity of jacks and lifting units as 
required by Sec. 1926.703 because the manufacturers and suppliers of 
this equipment provide this service as a usual and customary practice.
    The warning-signs required by paragraph Sec. 1926.701(c)(2) reduce 
exposure of nonessential employees to the hazards of post-tensioning 
operations, principally a failed rope or wire that could strike an 
employee and cause serious injury. The requirements to lock-out and 
tag-out ejection systems and other hazardous equipment (e.g., 
compressors, mixers, screens or pumps used for concrete and masonry 
construction) specified by paragraphs Sec. 1926.702(a)(2), (j)(1), and 
(j)(2) warn equipment operators not to activate their equipment if 
another employee enters the equipment to perform a task (e.g., 
cleaning, inspecting maintenance, repairing), thereby preventing 
serious injury or death.

[[Page 29602]]

    Construction contractors and employees use the drawings, plans, and 
designs required by Sec. 1926.703(a)(2), (b)(8)(i), and (e)(1)(i) to 
provide specific instructions on how to construct, erect, brace, 
maintain, and remove shores and formwork if they pour concrete at the 
jobsite. Similarly, the designs and plans specified by Sec. 1926.705(a) 
identify methods for assembling and stabilizing lift slabs during 
construction. These requirements assure the structural stability and 
integrity of the formwork and lift slabs, which prevents employee 
injury and death that may result from the collapse of the formwork or 
lift slabs. In addition, OSHA compliance officers review the required 
paperwork to determine if the formwork and lift slabs comply with the 
specifications and instructions contained in these documents.
    Section 1926.705(b) requires employers to mark the rated capacity 
of jacks and lifting units. This requirement prevents overloading and 
subsequent collapse of jacks and lifting units, as well as their loads, 
thereby sparing exposed employees from serious injury and death.

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 
cost) 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 a decrease in the existing burden-hour estimate 
for, as well as an extension of OMB approval of, the collection-of-
information requirements specified by the Subpart. Accordingly, the 
Agency is requesting to decrease the current burden hour estimate from 
7,787 hours to 0 hours, a total reduction of 7,787 hours. The Agency 
justifies this reduction based on its conclusion that the paperwork 
requirements found in this Subpart do not impose respondent burden 
hours or costs as specified by PRA-95. OSHA is requesting to extend 
OMB's previous approval of the recordkeeping (paperwork) requirements 
specified by the Subpart. 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 information-
collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Concrete and Masonry Construction.
    OMB Number: 1218-0095.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; State, local or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: None.
    Frequency of Response: None.
    Average Time per Response: None.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: None.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): None.

IV. Authority and Signature

    R. Davis Layne, Acting 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. 3-2000 (65 FR 
50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC on May 25, 2001.
R. Davis Layne,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-13691 Filed 5-30-01; 8:45 am]
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