DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Parts 1904 and 1952

Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses; Extension of Comment Period

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

ACTION: Proposed Rule; Extension of comment period.

SUMMARY: OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking covering the recording and reporting of workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses, which appeared in the Federal Register on February 2, 1996 (61 FR 4030). At the request of stakeholders, OSHA is extending the end of the public comment period through July 1, 1996.

DATES: Written comments on the NPRM must be postmarked on or before July 1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted in quadruplicate or one original (hardcopy) and 1 disk (5 1/4 or 3 1/2) in Wordperfect 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 or ASCII to: Docket Officer, Docket No. R-02, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone (202) 219-7894. Comments of 10 pages or less may be transmitted by facsimile to (202) 219-5046 provided the original and 4 copies of the comment are sent to the Docket Officer thereafter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Anne Cyr, U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA, Room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210, (202) 219-8148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking covering the recording and reporting of workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses along with announcing a public meeting which was held March 26-29, which appeared in the Federal Register on February 2, 1996 (61 FR 4030). OSHA published a second notice to provide the public with additional information regarding the economic analysis of the proposed rule in the Federal Register on February 29, 1996 (61 FR 7758-7760). OSHA published a third notice to announce a second public meeting and an extension of the comment period on April 8, 1996 (61 FR 15435). The second public meeting was held April 30 and May 1 to give the public another opportunity to provide OSHA with information on the proposed rule. The transcript of that meeting, along with additional material, has been placed in the docket by OSHA. The additional material consists of the following documents:

1. "Subcontractor Safety as Influenced by General Contractors on Small and Medium Sized Projects". University of Washington, Jimmie Hinze and Lori A. Figone, October 1988.

2. "Assuring Accuracy in Employer Injury and Illness Records", U.S. General Accounting Office (HRD-89-23), December 1988.

3. Various materials relating to OSHA inspection activity for significant occupational injury and illness recordkeeping cases.

4. Various OSHA and BLS letters to the public interpreting OSHA's occupational injury and illness recording and reporting regulations.

5. Various letters and documents describing OSHA's collection of 1995 workplace injury and illness information.

6. Documents relating to a pilot program to evaluate the accuracy of workplace injury and illness records, including "Evaluating Workplace Injury and Illness Records; Testing a Procedure" Monthly Labor Review, April 1988.

7. A July 21, 1978 Federal Register Notice announcing rule changes for "Access to the Log of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses to Employees and their Representatives" (43 FR 31324).

8. A December 28, 1982 Federal Register Notice announcing rule changes for "Exemption From Requirements for Recording Occupational Injuries and Illnesses" (47 FR 57699).

The transcripts of both public meetings, comments from the public and documentary evidence are available from the OSHA Docket Office (see Addresses) Docket No. R-02.

Signed in Washington, DC, this 29th day of May, 1996.

Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 96-13836 Filed 5-30-96; 8:45 am]