[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65514-65516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31271]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0130(2002)]


Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart 
K); 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 comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comment concerning its proposal to increase the 
existing burden-hour estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the 
information-collection requirements of the Electrical Standards for 
Construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K).\1\ These standards specify: 
Written descriptions of, and testing records for, the assured-equipment 
grounding-conductor program; warning labels and marks to alert 
employees to hazardous electrical conditions; and tags to warn against 
energizing circuits and equipment on which employees are working. 
Accordingly, these standards prevent deaths and severe injuries among 
construction employees caused by high-voltage electrical hazards.
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    \1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements 
contained in these standards, the Agency estimates that the total 
burden hours increased compared to its previous burden-hour 
estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these 
paperwork requirements in any substantive manner, only to increase 
the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.

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DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 19, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0130(2002), 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: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety 
Standards Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3621, 200 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
2444. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) 
supporting the need for the information collections specified by the 
Electrical Standards for Construction is available for inspection and 
copying in the Docket Office, or by requesting a copy from Theda Kenney 
at (202)693-2044 or Todd Owen at (202)693-2444. For electronic copies 
of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov, then 
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)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and costs) 
is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct.
    The Electrical Standards for Construction contain a number of 
paperwork requirements. The following sections describe these 
requirements in detail.
    Section 1926.404(b)(1)(iii) (``Wiring design and protection''). 
This paragraph requires construction employers who elect not to use 
ground-fault-circuit interrupters at a job site to establish and 
implement an assured-equipment grounding-conductor (AEGC) program. This 
program must cover cord sets, receptacles (that are not part of the 
building or structure), and equipment connected by cord and plug that 
employees use, or is available for their use, at construction sites. An 
employer must ensure that the AEGC program has a written description of 
the program,

[[Page 65515]]

including the specific procedures adopted by the employer, available at 
the job site for review and copying by OSHA compliance officers and any 
affected employee, and has at least one competent person, designated by 
employer, to implement the program. Prior to use, the employer also 
must visually inspect, for external defects (e.g., missing or deformed 
pins, insulation damage) and possible internal damage, each cord set, 
attachment cap, plug and receptacle of cord sets, and any equipment 
connected by cord and plug (except fixed cord sets and receptacles not 
exposed to damage); the employer must repair any damaged or defective 
equipment prior to use by an employee.
    Under the AEGC program, the employer must test all cord sets, 
receptacles that are not part of the permanent wiring of the building 
or structure, and cord- and plug-connected equipment that require 
grounding. Accordingly, employers must test each equipment-grounding 
connector for continuity and ensure that it is electrically continuous, 
and test each receptacle and attachment cap or plug for correct 
attachment of the equipment-grounding conductor, and ensure that the 
conductor connects to the proper terminal. Employers are to perform 
these tests before: First using the equipment; returning the equipment 
to service following repair; and using equipment after any incident 
that the employer reasonably suspects damaged equipment. In addition, 
an employer must conduct testing at least every three months, except 
for fixed cord sets and receptacles not exposed to damage, which 
employees must test at least every six months. Employers must also 
record the tests, including the identity of each receptacle, cord set, 
and cord- and plug-connected equipment that passed the test, and the 
previous testing date or the interval covered by the last test. The 
employer is to maintain these records using logs, color coding, or 
other effective means until replaced by the next record, and make them 
available at the job site for inspection by OSHA compliance officers 
and affected employees.
    The purpose of the AEGC program is to detect and correct faults in 
grounding conductors before a high-voltage accident occurs. Grounding 
conductors often fail because of the rough use they receive at 
construction sites, and such failure results in improperly grounded 
equipment; employees who then use the improperly grounded equipment are 
at risk for death or injury caused by high-voltage electrical shock. 
The written program identifies the equipment that the competent person 
must inspect and test, and delineates the procedures they are to use 
while inspecting and testing the equipment for grounding faults. Making 
the written program available for review and copying by OSHA compliance 
officers and affected employees ensures that the program covers the 
required equipment currently used at the work site, and that the 
competent person is following appropriate procedures during inspection 
and testing. Recording the tests results informs OSHA compliance 
officers and affected employees that the competent person tested the 
required equipment, and whether or not this equipment is safe to use.
    Sections 1926.403(i)(2)(ii) (``General requirements [for 
installation safety requirements]''); 404(d)(2)(ii) (``Wiring design 
and protection''); 405(h) (``Wiring methods components, and equipment 
for general use''); 408(a)(2)(iii) and (a)(3)(i) (``Special systems''); 
and .416(a)(3) (``General requirements [for safety-related work 
practices]''). These provisions require employers to warn employees of 
hazardous electrical conditions, including:
    <bullet> Section 1926.403(i)(2)(iii). Mark the entrances to rooms 
and other guarded locations containing exposed live parts with 
conspicuous warning signs that forbid unqualified employees from 
entering.
    <bullet> Section 1926.403(i)(2)(iii). Post warning signs if 
unauthorized employees may come in contact with live parts.
    <bullet> Section 1926.405(h). Mark termination enclosures for 
portable cables over 600 volts (nominal) with a high-voltage hazard 
warning.
    <bullet> Section 1926.408(a)(2)(iii). Provide a means to completely 
isolate equipment for inspection and repairs. Accordingly, employers 
must ensure that means of isolation not designed to interrupt the load 
current of the circuit either are capable of interlocking with a 
circuit interrupter or they must post a sign warning against opening 
the means under load.
    <bullet> Section 1926.408(a)(3)(i). Provide a metallic structure on 
mobile or portable equipment for enclosing the terminals of the power 
cables, and mark the structure with a sign warning that the structure 
contains energized parts.
    <bullet> Section 1926.416(a)(3). Before starting work, determine 
whether or not an employee, tool, or machine may come into physical or 
electrical contact with an energized electric power circuit, whether 
exposed or concealed. If so, the employer must post and maintain proper 
warning signs where such circuits exist, and advise employees of the 
location of such circuits, the hazards involved, and the protective 
measures they are to take.
    These warning signs and marks alert unqualified and unauthorized 
employees to the presence of electrical hazards, and notify 
electricians of the need to exercise caution and to take other measures 
to protect themselves when they are near electrical hazards. Therefore, 
these paperwork requirements prevent death and serious injury among 
these employees that may result from inadvertent contact with high-
voltage electrical hazards.
    Section 1926.417(a), (b), and (c) (``Lockout and tagging of 
circuits''). These paragraphs require that employers tag deactivated 
controls to energized or deenergized circuits and equipment while 
employees are working on them. In addition, employers are to render 
deenergized equipment and circuits inoperative, and attach tags at 
points that control the release of energy to the deenergized circuits 
and equipment; these tags must plainly identify these circuits and 
equipment.
    The required tags warn others not to reenergize, or activate the 
controls to, circuits and equipment on which an employee is working. 
Accordingly, the tags prevent death and serious injury to these 
employees caused by high-voltage electrical shock, or by operation of 
the equipment.

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 proposing to increase the existing burden-hour estimate 
for, and to extend OMB's approval of, the paperwork requirements 
specified by the Electrical Standards for Construction. The Agency is 
proposing to increase the total burden-hour estimate from 53,001 hours 
to 84,803 hours, an increase of 31,802 hours. This

[[Page 65516]]

increase in burden hours results in large part from accounting for 
developing, maintaining, and disclosing AEGC test records, and basing 
the number of tags required under Sec. 1926.417(a), (b), and (c) 
(``Lockout and tagging of circuits'') on the number of jobsites instead 
of the number of employees. In addition, capital costs rose from $0 to 
$933,333 because OSHA is accounting for the cost of purchasing new, and 
replacing worn or damaged, warning signs and tags. The Agency will 
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will 
include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of 
these information-collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently-approved information-
collection requirement.
    Title: Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, 
subpart K).
    OMB Number: 1218-0130.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal government; 
State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 70,000.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; quarterly; semi-annually; 
or (initially).
    Average Time per Response: Varies from one minute to tag an 
electrical circuit or piece of equipment, to one hour to develop a 
written AEGC program.
    Total Annual Hours Requested: 84,803.
    Total Annual Costs (O&M): $933.333.

IV. Authority and Signature

    John L. Henshaw, 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 (62 FR 50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on December 14, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-31271 Filed 12-18-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M