January 19, 1994

Mr. Carl D. Richardson
Director, Safety and Health
H.B. Zachry Company
P.O. Box 21130
San Antonio, Texas 78221-0130

Dear Mr. Richardson:

This is in response to your October 25 letter requesting an interpretation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation requiring seat belts in motor vehicles. I apologize for the delay in our response.

Please be advised that 29 CFR 1926.601(b)(9) does not require buses used to transport employees to be equipped with passenger seat belts. The standard refers to a Department of Transportation regulation which does not require passenger seat belts on school buses.

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me or Mr. Dale Cavanaugh of my staff at (202) 219-8136.

Sincerely,



Roy F. Gurnham, P.E., J.D.
Director
Officer of Construction and Maritime
Compliance Assistance




October 25, 1993

Mr. Roy Gurnham
Director
Office of Construction Maritime
Compliance Assistance
Dept. of Labor - OSHA
200 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Room # N-3610
Washington, D.C. 20210

Mr. Gurnham:

H.B. Zachry Co. provides general contractors services across the United States especially in the Petro-Chemical Industry. Our construction activities includes process plant construction and maintenance in existing facilities. Often the owner prohibits no company vehicles in the facility and prohibits walking through the operational units.

In these situations, the Company provides transportation for our employees via a school bus. Typically, the requires the school bus to travel less than a mile from the construction site. Normally, this is over paved plant facility roads with a very low speed limit (20 mph).

The bus driver per 29 CFR 1926.601(b)(9) is required to wear a seat belt which is factory installed meeting the requirements of 49 CFR Part 571 (department of Transportation, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards).

We would appreciate your interpretation of 1926.601(b)(9) as it relates to the following question:

Does 1926.602(b)(9) require company's school buses, used to transport employees, as discussed above to have installed seat belts for passenger seats?

These school buses do not have factory installed seat belts other than the driver seat belt. We would appreciate your response to this inquiry as soon as possible. If your have any questions concerning this request, please call me at 210-922-1213.

Thank you,



Carl D. Richardson
Director, Safety and Health
H.B. Zachry Company