[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64838-64840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25941]


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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 (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K) and 
the Electrical Standards for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, 
subpart S). 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 
December 30, 2014.

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-2011-0187, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 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

[[Page 64839]]

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 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 from the Web site. 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 accord 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 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 the Electrical Standards 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 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:
    <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 proposing an adjustment increase to the existing burden 
hours from 170,098 to 220,849 for the Electrical Standards for 
Construction and for General Industry, a total increase of 50,751 
hours. The cost of the labels remains the same at $3.75 each, however, 
the cost of caution and warning signs increased to $10.95 6.95, a total 
increase of $4.00 each. The total cost over a five-year period to the 
employer is $18,863,802 (or $3,772,760 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 Control Number: 1218-0130.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 652,902.
    Frequency of Response: Occasionally.
    Total Responses: 3,041,060.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from three minutes (.08 hour) to 
post and construct each sign to four hours for a certified electrical 
engineer to document a hazardous classified location.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 220,849.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $3,772,760.

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 (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187) for the ICR. 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).

[[Page 64840]]

    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 
date 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 from 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 from the Web site, and for assistance in using the Internet 
to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., 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. 1-2012 
(77 FR 3912).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on October 28, 2014.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-25941 Filed 10-30-14; 8:45 am]
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