[Federal Register: April 18, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 73)]
[Notices]               
[Page 20180-20181]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap05-96]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary

 
Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

April 11, 2005.
    The Department of Labor (DOL) has submitted the following public 
information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of 
this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by 
contacting Darrin King on 202-693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number) 
or e-mail: king.darrin@dol.gov.
    Comments should be sent to Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503, 202-395-7316 (this is not a toll-free number), 
within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal 
Register.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Title: Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).
    OMB Number: 1218-0242.
    Frequency: On occasion; Initially; Annually; and Triennially.
    Type of Response: Recordkeeping and Third party disclosure.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal Government; 
and State, local, or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 999,000.
    Number of Annual Responses: 2,181,839.
    Estimated Time Per Response: Ranges from 2 minutes to mark an 
approved truck to 6.50 hours to train new truck operators.
    Total Burden Hours: 773,205.
    Total Annualized capital/startup costs: $0.
    Total Annual Costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing 
services): $209,790.
    Description: Paragraph (a)(4) of 1910.178 requires that employers 
obtain the manufacturer's written approval before modifying a powered 
industrial truck in a manner that affects its capacity and safe 
operation; if the manufacturer grants such approval, the employer must 
revise capacity, operation, and maintenance instruction plates, tags, 
and decals accordingly. For front-end attachments not installed by the 
manufacturer, paragraph (a)(5) mandates that employers provide a label 
(marking) on the truck that identifies the attachment, as well as the 
weight of both the truck and the attachment when the attachment is at 
maximum elevation with a laterally centered load. Paragraph (a)(6) 
specifies that employers must ensure that the markers required by 
paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(5) remain affixed to the truck and are 
legible.
    Paragraphs (l)(1) through (l)(6) of the Standard contain the 
paperwork requirements necessary to certify the training provided to 
powered industrial truck operators. Accordingly, these paragraphs 
specify the following requirements for employers:
    Paragraph (l)(1)--Ensure that trainees successfully complete the 
training and evaluation requirements of paragraph (l) prior to 
operating a truck without direct supervision.
    Paragraph (l)(2)--Allow trainees to operate a truck only under the 
direct supervision of an individual with the knowledge, training, and 
experience to train operators and to evaluate their performance, and 
under conditions that do not endanger other employees. The training 
program must consist of formal instruction, practical training, and 
evaluation of the trainee's performance in the workplace.
    Paragraph (l)(3)--Provide the trainees with initial training on 
each of 22 specified topics, except on topics that the employer 
demonstrates do not apply to the safe operation of the truck(s) in the 
employer's workplace.
    Paragraphs (l)(4)(i) and (l)(4)(ii)--Administer refresher training 
and evaluation on relevant topics to operators found by observation or 
formal evaluation to operate a truck unsafely, involved in an accident 
or near-miss incident, or assigned to operate another type of truck, or 
if the employer identifies a workplace condition that could affect safe 
truck operation.
    Paragraph (l)(4)(iii)--Evaluate each operator's performance at 
least once every three years.
    Paragraph (l)(5)--Train rehires only in specific topics that they 
performed unsuccessfully during an evaluation and that are appropriate 
to the employer's truck(s) and workplace conditions.
    Paragraph (l)(6)--Certify that each operator meets the training and 
evaluation requirements specified by paragraph (l). This certification 
must include the operator's name, the training date, the evaluation 
date, and the identity of the individual(s) who performed the training 
and evaluation.
    Requiring markers notifies employees of the conditions under which 
they can safely operate powered industrial trucks, thereby preventing 
such hazards as fires and explosions caused by poorly designed 
electrical systems, rollovers/tipovers that result from exceeding a 
truck's stability characteristics, and falling loads that occur when 
loads exceed the lifting capacities of attachments. Certification of 
training and evaluation provides a means of informing employers that 
their employees received the training, and demonstrated the performance 
necessary to operate a truck within its capacity and control 
limitations. Therefore, by ensuring that employees operate only trucks that 
are in proper working order, and do so safely, employers prevent severe injury
and death to truck operators and other employees who are in the vicinity of 
the trucks. Finally, these paperwork requirements are the most efficient 
means for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that an employer properly 
notified employees regarding the design and construction of, and modifications 
made to, the trucks they are operating, and that an employer provided 
them with the required training.

Ira L. Mills,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-7690 Filed 4-15-05; 8:45 am]

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