Document ID: OSHA-2007-0041-0003
Agency: osha
Document Type: Notice
Title: FM Approvals; Expansion of Recognition. Notice
Posted Date: 2010-10-25T04:00Z

[Federal Register: October 25, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 205)]
[Notices]               
[Page 65521-65523]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25oc10-114]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2007-0041]

 
FM Approvals; Expansion of Recognition

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration's final decision expanding the recognition of FM 
Approvals LLC as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory under 29 
CFR 1910.7.

DATES: The expansion of recognition becomes effective on October 25, 
2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: MaryAnn Garrahan, Director, Office of 
Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-3655, Washington, DC 20210, 
or phone (202) 693-2110.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Notice of Final Decision

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hereby 
gives notice that it is expanding the recognition of FM Approvals LLC 
(FM) as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). FM's 
expansion covers the use of additional test standards. OSHA's current 
scope of recognition for FM may be found in the following informational 
Web page: http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/fm.html.
    OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization meets 
the legal requirements specified in 29 CFR 1910.7. Recognition is an 
acknowledgment that the organization can perform independent safety 
testing and certification of the specific products covered within its 
scope of recognition, and is not a delegation or grant of government 
authority. As a result of

[[Page 65522]]

recognition, employers may use products approved by the NRTL to meet 
OSHA standards that require product testing and certification.
    The Agency processes applications by an NRTL for initial 
recognition, or for expansion or renewal of this recognition, following 
requirements in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. This appendix requires 
that the Agency publish two notices in the Federal Register in 
processing an application. In the first notice, OSHA announces the 
application and provides its preliminary finding and, in the second 
notice, the Agency provides its final decision on the application. 
These notices set forth the NRTL's scope of recognition or 
modifications of that scope. OSHA maintains an informational Web page 
for each NRTL that details its scope of recognition. These pages are 
available from the Web site at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/
index.html. Each NRTL's scope of recognition has three elements: (1) 
The type of products the NRTL may test, with each type specified by its 
applicable test standard; (2) the recognized site(s) that has/have the 
technical capability to perform the testing and certification 
activities for test standards within the NRTL's scope; and (3) the 
supplemental program(s) that the NRTL may use, each of which allows the 
NRTL to rely on other parties to perform activities necessary for 
product testing and certification.
    FM submitted an application, dated July 18, 2007, to expand its 
recognition to include 31 additional test standards. The NRTL Program 
staff deferred action on 20 of these standards pending resolution of 
technical issues. The staff determined that ten of the remaining 11 
standards are ``appropriate test standards'' within the meaning of 29 
CFR 1910.7(c). In connection with this request, NRTL Program staff did 
not perform an onsite review of FM's recognized sites. The staff only 
performed a comparability analysis,\1\ which determined that FM has the 
capabilities to perform the testing related to the ten standards (see 
list below). The Agency subsequently accepted this recommendation, and 
published a preliminary notice announcing the expansion application in 
the Federal Register on March 2, 2010 (75 FR 9439). Comments were 
requested by March 17, 2010, but OSHA received no comments in response 
to this notice. OSHA is now proceeding with this final notice to grant 
FM's expansion application.
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    \1\ This analysis involves determining whether the testing and 
evaluation requirements of test standards already in an NRTL's scope 
are comparable to the requirements in the standards requested by the 
NRTL.
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    All public documents pertaining to the FM application are available 
for review by contacting the Docket Office, Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210. These materials also 
are available online at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. 
OSHA-2007-0041.

Final Decision and Order

    NRTL Program staff examined FM's application, the comparability 
analysis, and other pertinent information. Based on this examination 
and the analysis, OSHA finds that FM meets the requirements of 29 CFR 
1910.7 for expansion of its recognition, subject to the limitation and 
conditions specified below. Pursuant to the authority in 29 CFR 1910.7, 
OSHA hereby expands the recognition of FM, subject to this limitation 
and these conditions.

Limitation

    OSHA limits the expansion of FM's recognition to testing and 
certification of products for demonstration of conformance to the 
following test standards, each of which OSHA determines is an 
appropriate test standard, within the meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c):

UL 153 Portable Electric Luminaires \2\
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    \2\ FM requested recognition for UL 298--Portable Electric Hand 
Lamps, but this standard has been withdrawn and was superseded by UL 
153.
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UL 268A Smoke Detectors for Duct Application
UL 484 Room Air Conditioners
UL 521 Heat Detectors for Fire Protective Signaling Systems
UL 1480 Speakers for Fire Alarm, Emergency, and Commercial and 
Professional Use
UL 1638 Visual Signaling Appliances--Private Mode Emergency and General 
Utility Signaling
FM 3210 Heat Detectors for Automatic Fire Alarm Signaling
FM 7260 Electrostatic Finishing Equipment
UL 61010A-1 Electrical Equipment for Laboratory Use; Part 1: General 
Requirements
UL 61010B-1 Electrical Measuring and Test Equipment; Part 1: General 
Requirements

    The designations and titles of these test standards were current at 
the time of the preparation of this notice.
    OSHA's recognition of any NRTL for a particular test standard is 
limited to equipment or materials (i.e., products) for which OSHA 
standards require third-party testing and certification before use in 
the workplace. Consequently, if a test standard also covers any product 
for which OSHA does not require such testing and certification, an 
NRTL's scope of recognition does not include that product.
    The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) may approve the 
test standards listed above as American National Standards. However, 
for convenience, we may use the designation of the standards-developing 
organization for the standard as opposed to the ANSI designation. Under 
the NRTL Program's policy, any NRTL recognized for a particular test 
standard may use either the proprietary version of the test standard or 
the ANSI version of that standard. Contact ANSI to determine whether a 
test standard is currently ANSI-approved.

Conditions

    FM also must abide by the following conditions of the recognition, 
in addition to those conditions already required by 29 CFR 1910.7:
    1. FM must allow OSHA access to its facilities and records to 
ascertain continuing compliance with the terms of its recognition, and 
to perform investigations as OSHA deems necessary;
    2. If FM has reason to doubt the efficacy of any test standard it 
is using under this program, it must promptly inform the test standard-
developing organization of this concern, and provide that organization 
with appropriate relevant information upon which its concern is based;
    3. FM must not engage in, or permit others to engage in, any 
misrepresentation of the scope or conditions of its recognition. As 
part of this condition, FM agrees that it will allow no representation 
that it is either a recognized or an accredited Nationally Recognized 
Testing Laboratory (NRTL) without clearly indicating the specific 
equipment or material to which this recognition applies and that its 
recognition is limited to certain products;
    4. FM must inform OSHA as soon as possible, in writing, of any 
change of ownership, facilities, or key personnel, and of any major 
changes in its operations as an NRTL, including details of these 
changes;
    5. FM will meet all the terms of its recognition and will always 
comply with all OSHA policies pertaining to this recognition; and
    6. FM will continue to meet the requirements for recognition in all 
areas to which this recognition applies.

[[Page 65523]]

Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210, directed the preparation of this notice. 
Accordingly, the Agency is issuing this notice pursuant to Sections 
6(b) and 8(g) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 655 and 657), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 4-2010 (75 FR 
55355), and 29 CFR part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on October 20, 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-26894 Filed 10-22-10; 8:45 am]
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