Document ID: OSHA-2009-0043-0001
Agency: osha
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
Posted Date: 2010-04-26T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 79 (Monday, April 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21662-21663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9544]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2009-0043]

Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records; 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 comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to 
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements 
contained in its Regulation on Access to Employee Exposure and Medical 
Records (29 CFR 1910.1020).

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) by June 25, 
2010.

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 three copies of your comments 
and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0043, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20210, telephone (202) 693-2350, (OSHA's TTY number is (877) 889-
5627). 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 
docket number for the Information Collection Request (ICR) (OSHA-2009-
0043). 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 through the Web site. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may contact Todd Owen at the 
address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamaa N. Hill, 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 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 clearly understood, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. The 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of the 1970 (the 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 
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).
    Under the authority granted by the Act, OSHA published a health 
regulation governing access to worker exposure monitoring data and 
medical records. This regulation does not require employers to collect 
any information or to establish any new systems of records. Rather, it 
requires that employers provide workers, their designated 
representatives, and OSHA with access to worker exposure monitoring and 
medical records, and any analyses resulting from these records that 
employers must maintain under OSHA's toxic chemical and harmful 
physical agent standards. In this regard, the regulation specifies 
requirements for record access, record retention, worker information, 
trade secret management, and record transfer. Accordingly, the Agency 
attributes the burden hours and costs associated with exposure 
monitoring and measurement, medical surveillance, and the other 
activities required to generate the data governed by the regulation to 
the health standards that specify these activities; therefore, OSHA did 
not include these burden hours and costs in the ICR.
    Access to exposure and medical information enables workers and 
their designated representatives to become directly involved in 
identifying and controlling occupational health hazards, as well as 
managing and preventing occupationally-related health impairment and 
disease. Providing the Agency with access to the records permits it to 
ascertain whether or not employers are complying with the regulation, 
as well as the recordkeeping requirements of its other health 
standards; therefore, OSHA access provides additional assurance that 
workers and their designated representative are able to obtain the data 
they need to conduct their analyses.

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 requirement, 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

[[Page 21663]]

example, by using automated or other technological information 
collection and transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

    OSHA is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the collection 
of information requirements specified by the Regulation on Access to 
Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 1910.1020). The Agency is 
requesting to decrease its current burden hour total from 720,187 hours 
to 664,993, a total decrease of 55,194 hours. This decrease is the 
result of the Agency using the latest NAICS codes covered by the 
Regulation to update the number of establishments. The number of 
establishments decreased from 5,108,244 to 4,790,859. 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 collection.
    Title: Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records (29 CFR 
1910.1020).
    OMB Control Number: 1218-0065.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal government; 
State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 690,591.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) for 
employers to provide OSHA with access to records to 10 minutes (.17 
hour) to maintain worker records.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 664,993 hours.
    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 notice 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 for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2009-0043). 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).
    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 through 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 through the Web site, and for assistance in 
using the Internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, PhD, 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. 5-2007 
(72 FR 31160).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on April 20, 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-9544 Filed 4-23-10; 8:45 am]
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