DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0242(2001)]

Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comment.

SUMMARY: OSHA requests comments on its proposal to increase the burden-hour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information requirements specified by the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).⁽¹⁾ This standard contains several information-collection requirements addressing truck design, construction, and modification, as well as training certification for truck operators. These requirements ensure that the trucks are in proper working order and that truck operators have the requisite skills, knowledge, and ability to operate them safely.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0242(2001), 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-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collections specified in the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or by requesting a copy from Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov, and 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)(2)(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 paperwork requirements in paragraphs (a)(3) through (a)(6) of the Standard on Powered Industrial Trucks (the "Standard") specify that employers must place a marker (e.g., label) on an approved truck indicating that a national testing laboratory accepted its design and construction,⁽²⁾ and must obtain the manufacturer's written approval before modifying a 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, employers must provide a marker 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 center load. Employers also must ensure that any marker required by these provisions remains affixed to trucks and is legible.

Paragraphs (l)(1) through (l)(6) of the Standard contain the paperwork requirements necessary to certify the training provided to a truck operator. These paragraphs specify the duties and qualifications of training supervisors, program content, requirement for operator evaluation, conditions for refresher training, and operator certification.

Requiring markers notifies employees of the conditions under which they can safely operate the 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. The training-certification requirement ensures the employer will know that an employee received the training necessary to operate a truck within its capacity and control limitations; this record also provides the most efficient means for an OSHA compliance officer to determine that an employer performed the required training. 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.

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, including whether the information is useful;

• 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;

• The quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and

• 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 approval of, the collection-of-information requirements specified by the Standard. In this regard, the Agency is requesting to increase the current burden-hour estimate from 543,860 hours to 813,963 hours, a total increase 270,103 of hours. This adjustment occurred largely because OSHA is accounting for paperwork requirements in the Standard not included in the previous ICR, and because the number of operators requiring initial training, evaluation, and certification increased substantially. The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend its approval of these information-collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approval information-collection requirements.

Title: Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178).

OMB Number: 1218-0242.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal government.

Number of Respondents: 4,400,000.

Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; annually; triennially.

Average Time per Response: Ranges from two minutes ((.03 hour) to mark an approved truck to 6.50 hours to train new truck operators.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 813,963.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.

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 (65 FR 50017).

Signed at Washington, DC, on September 27, 2001.

John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 01-24699 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-26-M

Footnote (1) Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements contained in this standard, 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. (Back to text)

Footnote (2) A national testing laboratory evaluates a truck's electrical system for fire safety. (Back to text)