Source: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/federalregister/2004-11-30
Timestamp: 2020-03-29 06:53:11
Document Index: 723683001

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', '§ 1910', 'art 1910']

Commercial Diving Operations; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements | Occupational Safety and Health Administration
69:69633-69637
[Docket No. ICR 1218-0069 (2005)]
SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comment concerning its request for an extension of the information collection requirements contained in the Commercial Diving Operations Standard (29 CFR part 1910, subpart T).
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by OSHA Docket No. ICR-1218-0069 (2005), by any of the following methods:
Docket: For access to the docket to read or download comments or background materials, such as the complete Information Collection Request (ICR) (containing the Supporting Statement, OMB-83-I Form, and attachments), go to OSHA's Web page at http://www.OSHA.gov. In addition, comments, submissions, and the ICR are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. You also may contact Theda Kenney at the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR. For additional information on submitting comments, please see the "Public Participation" heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222.
I. Public Participation -- Submission of Comments on This Notice and Internet Access to Comments and Submission
Subpart T ("the Subpart") contains a number of paperwork requirements. The following paragraphs describe these reuqirements; specify who uses them, and what purpose they serve.
§ 1910.401(b). Description of the requirement. Allows employers to deviate from the requirements of the Subpart to the extent necessary to prevent or minimize a situation that is likely to cause death, serious physical harm, or major environmental damage (but not situations in which purely economic or property damage is likely to occur). Employers must notify the OSHA Area Director within 48 hours of taking such action; this notification must describe the situation responsible for the deviation and the extent of the deviation from the requirements. On request of the Area Director, employers must submit this information is writing.
§ § 1910.410(a)(3) and (a)(4). Description of the requirements. Paragraph (a)(3) requires employers to train all dive-team members in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid (i.e., the American Red Cross standard couse or equivalent), while paragraph (a)(4) specifies that employers train dive-team members exposed to hyperbaric conditions, or who control exposures of other employees to such conditions, in diving-related physics and physiology.
Use and purpose. Ensures that dive-team members know how to render emergency first-aid to diving casualties, which improves treatment outcomes. Training dive-team members involved in hyperbaric operations in diving-related physics and physiology results in an understanding of how underwater barometric pressure affects the development of diving-related medical conditions such as decompression sickness (the "bends;" referred to hereafter as "DCS") and air embolism, thereby enabling theme to prevent these conditions.
§ § 1910.420(a). Description of the requirement. Under paragraph (a), employers must develop and maintain a safe-practices manual and make it available to each dive-team member at the dive location. In addition, for each diving mode used at the dive location, the manual must contain: safety procedures and checklists for diving operations; assignments and responsibilities of the dive-team members; equipment procedures and checklists; and emergency procedures for fire, equipment failures, adverse environmental conditions, and medical illness and injury.
Use and purpose. The safe-practices manual ensures that dive-team members are familiar with the employer's safety and emergency procedures, the functions each member is to perform during diving operations conducted at the dive location, and how these procedures and functions relate to the requirements of the Subpart. This knowledge enables dive-team members to perform their diving-related tasks effectively and safely, thereby, reducing the risk of serious injury and death.
§ 1910.421(b). Description of the requirement. Under this provision, employers are to keep at the dive location a list of telephone or call numbers for the following emergency facilitates and services: An operational decompression chamber (when such a chamber is not at the dive location); accessible hospitals; available physicians and means of emergency transportation; and the nearest U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center.
§ 1910.421(f). Description of the requirement. Requires employers to brief dive-team members on the diving-related tasks they are to perform, safety procedures for the diving mode used at the dive location, any unusual hazards or environmental conditions likely to affect the safety of the diving operation, and any modifications to operating procedures necessitated by the specific diving operation. Before assigning diving-related tasks, employers must ask each dive-team member about their current state of physical fitness, and inform the member about the procedure for reporting physical problems or adverse physiological effects during and after the dive.
§ 1910.421(h). Description of the requirement. When the diving operation occurs in an area capable of supporting marine traffic and occurs from a surface other than a vessel, employers are to display a rigid replica of the international code flag "A" that is at least one meter in height so that it is visible from any direction; the employer must illuminate the flag during night diving operations.
§ 1910.422(e). Description of the requirement. Employers must develop and maintain a depth-time profile for each diver that includes, as appropriate, any breathing gas changes or decompression.
§ § 1910.423(b)(1)(ii) through (b)(2). Description of the requirements. Requires the employer to: Instruct each diver to report any physical symptoms or adverse physiological effects, including symptoms of DCS; advise each diver of the location of a decompression chamber that is ready for use; and alert each diver to the potential hazards of flying after diving. For any dive outside the no-decompression limits, deeper than 100 feet, or that uses mixed gas in the breathing mixture, the employer also must inform the diver to remain awake and in the vicinity of the decompression chamber that is at the dive location for at least one hour after a dive, or after any decompression or treatment associated with a dive.
§ 1910.423(d). Description of the requirement. Paragraph (d)(1) specifies that employers are to record and maintain the following information for each diving operation: The names of dive-team members; date, time, and location; diving modes used; general description of the tasks performed; an estimate of the underwater and surface conditions; and the maximum depth and bottom time for each diver. In addition, for each dive outside the no-decompression limits, deeper than 100 feet, or that uses mixed gas in the breathing mixture, paragraph (d)(2) requires the employer to record and maintain the following information for each diver: Depth-time and breathing-gas profiles; decompression table designation (including any modifications); and elapsed time since the last pressure exposure when it is less than 24 hours or the repetitive dive designation. Under paragraph (d)(3), if the dive results in DCS symptoms, or the employer suspects that a diver has DCS, the employer must record and maintain a description of the DCS symptoms (including the depth and time of symptom onset) and the results of treatment.
Use and purpose: This information permits appropriate and effective treatment of a diver should DCS occur after a dive or should the diver have a relapse of DCS after initial treatment, thereby preventing the condition from resulting in a serious injury or death. Maintaining these records ensures that the information is available for use by: the party involved in treatment when the diver experiences late-onset DCS or a subsequent relapse after treatment; and the employer for assessing the DCS incident (see § 1910.423(e) below).
§ 1910.423(e). Description of the requirement. Requires employers to assess each DCS incident by: investigating and evaluating it based on the recorded information, consideration of the past performance of the decompression profile used, and the diver's individual susceptibility to DCS; taking appropriate corrective action to reduce the probability of a DCS recurrence; and, within 45 days of the DCS incident, preparing a written evaluation of this assessment, including any corrective action taken.
§ 1910.430(a), (b)(4), (c)(1)(ii), (c)(3)(i), (f)(3)(ii), and (g)(2). Description of the requirements. Paragraph (a) contains a general requirement that employers must record by means of tagging or a logging system any work performed on equipment, including any modifications, repairs, tests, calibrations, or maintenance performed on the equipment. This record is to include a description of the work, the name or initials of the individual who performed the work, and the date they completed the work. Paragraphs (b)(4) and (c)(1)(iii) require employers to test two specific types of equipment, including, respectively: the output of air compressor systems used to supply breathing air to divers for air purity every six months by means of samples taken at the connection to the distribution system; and breathing-gas hoses at least annually at one and one-half times their working pressure. Under paragraph (c)(3)(i), employers must mark each umbilical (i.e., separate lines supplying air and communications to a diver, as well as a safety line, tied together in a bundle), beginning at the diver's end, in 10-foot increments for 100 feet, then in 50-foot increments. Paragraph (f)(3)(ii) mandates that employers regularly inspect and maintain mufflers located in intake and exhaust lines on decompression chambers. According to paragraph (g)(2), employers are to test depth gauges using dead-weigh testing, or calibrate the gauges against a master reference gauge; such testing or calibration is to occur every six months and when the employer finds a discrepancy larger than two percent of the full scale between any two equivalent gauges. Employers must make a record of the tests, calibrations, inspections, and maintenance performed on the equipment specified by these paragraphs in accordance with § 1910.430(a).
§ § 1910.440(a)(2) and (b). Description of the requirements. Under paragraph (a)(2) of this provision, employers must record any diving-related injuries and illnesses that result in a dive-team member remaining in hospital for at least 24 hours. This record is to describe the circumstances of the incident and the extent of any injuries or illnesses.
Paragraph (b) of this provision regulates the availability of the records required by the Subpart, including who has access to these records, the retention periods for various records, and in some cases, the final disposition of the records. Under paragraph (b)(1), employers must make any record required by the Subpart available, on request, for inspection and copying by an OSHA compliance officer or to a representative of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Paragraph (b)(2) specifies that employers are to provide employees, their designated representatives, and OSHA compliance officers with exposure and medical records generated under the Subpart in accordance with § 1910.1020 ("Access to employee exposure and medical records"); these records include safe-practices manuals, depth-time profiles, diving records, DCS incident assessments, and hospitalization records. This paragraph also mandates that employers make equipment inspection and testing records available to employees and their designated representative on request.
IV. Proposed Actions.
OSHA proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the collection of information (paperwork) requirements necessitated by the Commercial Diving Operations Standard, 29 CFR part 1910, subpart T. The Agency will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these collections of information requirements
OMB Number: 1218-0069
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; not for profit organizations, Federal government; State, local or tribal government
Number of Respondents: 3,000
Frequency: On occasion, annually
Average Time Per Response: Varies from 3 minutes (.05 hour) to replace the safe practices manual to 1 hour to develop a new manual
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 205,397
V. 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 et seq.), and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 5-2002 (67 FR 65008)