60 Day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 209 / Tuesday, October 30, 2007 / Notices
information collection request; they also
will become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 24th day of
October 2007.
Jose A. Lira,
Director, Office of Small Business Programs.
[FR Doc. E7–21308 Filed 10–29–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–23–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
[Docket No. OSHA–2007–0074]

OSHA–7 Form (‘‘Notice of Alleged
Safety and Health Hazards’’);
Extension of the Office of Management
and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of
Information Collection (Paperwork)
Requirements
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comment.

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AGENCY:

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public
comment concerning its proposal to
extend OMB approval of the
information collection requirements
specified in its Standard on the OSHA–
7 Form.
DATES: Comments must be submitted
(postmarked, sent, or received) by
December 31, 2007.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit
comments and attachments
electronically at http://
www.regulations.gov, which is the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the
instructions online for submitting
comments.
Facsimile: If your comments,
including attachments, are not longer
than 10 pages, you may fax them to the
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail,
messenger, or courier service: When
using this method, you must submit
three copies of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office,
OSHA Docket No. OSHA–2007–0074,
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational
Safety and Heath Administration, Room
N–2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210. Deliveries
(hand, express mail, messenger, and
courier service) are accepted during the
Department of Labor’s and Docket
Office’s normal business hours, 8:15
a.m. to 4:45 p.m., EST.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the Agency name and OSHA
docket number for the ICR (OSHA–
2007–0074). All comments, including
any personal information you provide,

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are placed in the public docket without
change, and may be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov.
For further information on submitting
comments see the ‘‘Public
Participation’’ heading in the section of
this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
Docket: To read or download
comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov
or the OSHA Docket Office at the
address above. All documents in the
docket (including this Federal Register
notice) are listed in the http://
www.regulations.gov index; however,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through the Web site.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
You may also contact Todd Owen at the
address below to obtain a copy of the
ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards
and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department
of Labor, Room N–3609, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20210; telephone (202) 693–2222.
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 (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 clearly understood, and
OSHA’s estimate of the information
collection burden is accurate. The
Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 (the OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.) authorizes information collection
by employers as necessary or
appropriate for enforcement of the OSH
Act or for developing information
regarding the causes and prevention of
occupational injuries, illnesses, and
accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act
also requires that OSHA obtain such
information with minimum burden
upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to
reduce to the maximum extent feasible
unnecessary duplication of efforts in
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
Under paragraphs (a) and (c) of 29
CFR 1903.11 (‘‘Complaints by

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61377

employees’’) employees and their
representatives may notify the OSHA
area director or an OSHA compliance
officer of safety and health hazards
regulated by the Agency that they
believe exist in their workplaces at any
time. These provisions state further that
this notification must be in writing and
‘‘shall set forth with reasonable
particularity the grounds for the notice,
and shall be signed by the employee or
representative of the employee.’’
In addition to providing specific
hazard information to the Agency,
paragraph (a) permits employees/
employee representatives to request an
inspection of the workplace. Paragraph
(c) also addresses situations in which
employees/employee representatives
may provide the information directly to
the OSHA compliance officer during an
inspection. An employer’s former
employees may also submit complaints
to the Agency.
To address the requirements of
paragraphs (a) and (c), especially the
requirement that the information be in
writing, the Agency developed the
OSHA–7 Form; this form standardized
and simplified the hazard reporting
process. For paragraph (a), they may
complete an OSHA–7 Form obtained
from the Agency’s Web site and then
send it to OSHA online, or deliver a
hardcopy of the form to the OSHA area
office by mail or facsimile, or by hand.
They may also write a letter containing
the information and hand deliver it to
the area office, or send it by mail or
facsimile. In addition, they may provide
the information orally to the OSHA area
office or another party (e.g., a Federal
safety and health committee for Federal
employees), in which case the area
office or other party completes the
hardcopy version of the form. For the
typical situation addressed by paragraph
(c), an employee/employee
representative informs an OSHA
compliance officer orally of the alleged
hazard during an inspection, and the
compliance officer then completes the
hardcopy version of the OSHA–7 Form;
occasionally, the employee/employee
representative provides the compliance
officer with the information on the
hardcopy version of the OSHA–7 Form.
The information in the hardcopy
version of the OSHA–7 Form includes
information about the employer and
alleged hazards, including: The
establishment’s name, mailing address,
and telephone and facsimile numbers;
the site’s address and telephone and
facsimile numbers; the name and
telephone number of the management
official; the type of business; a
description and the specific location of
the hazards, including the approximate

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 209 / Tuesday, October 30, 2007 / Notices

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

number of employees exposed or
threatened by the hazards; and whether
or not the employee/employee
representative informed another
government agency about the hazards
(and the name of the agency if so
informed).
Additional information on the
hardcopy version of the form addresses
the complainant including: Whether or
not the complainant wants OSHA to
reveal their name to the employer;
whether the complainant is an
employee or an employee
representative, or for information
provided orally, a member of a Federal
safety and health committee or another
party (with space to specify the party);
the complainant’s name, telephone
number, and address; and the
complainant’s signature attesting that
they believe a violation of an OSHA
standard exists at the named
establishment; and the date of the
signature. An employee representative
must also provide the name of the
organization they represent and their
title.
The information contained in the
online version of the OSHA–7 Form is
similar to the hard copy version.
However, the online version requests
the complainant’s e-mail address, and
does not ask for the establishment’s and
site’s telephone and facsimile numbers
and the complainant’s signature and
signature date.
The Agency uses the information
collected on the OSHA–7 Form to
determine whether reasonable grounds
exist to conduct an inspection of the
workplace. The description of the
hazards, including the number of
exposed employees, allows the Agency
to assess the severity of the hazards and
the need to expedite the inspection. The
completed form also provides an
employer with notice of the complaint
and may serve as the basis for obtaining
a search warrant if an employer denies
the Agency access to the workplace.
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

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example, by using automated or other
technological information collection
and transmission techniques.
III. Proposed Actions
Requirements relating to the OSHA–7
Form. The Agency will summarize the
comments submitted in response to this
notice and will include this summary in
the request to OMB to extend the
approval of the information collection
requirement contained in the Standard.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Title: OSHA–7 Form (‘‘Notice of
Alleged Safety and Health Hazards’’).
OMB Number: 1218–0064.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Number of Respondents: 48,298.
Frequency of Recordkeeping: On
occasion.
Total Responses: 48,298.
Average Time per Response: Varies
from 15 minutes (.25 hour) to
communicate the required information
orally to the Agency to 25 minutes (.42
hour) to provide the information in
writing and send it to OSHA.
Total Burden Hours Requested:
12,775.
Estimated Cost (Operation and
Maintenance): $990.
IV. Public Participation—Submission of
Comments on This Notice and Internet
Access to Comments and Submissions
You may submit comments in
response to this document as follows:
(1) Electronically at http://
www.regulations.gov, which is the
Federal eRulemaking Portal; (2) by
facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other
material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the
ICR (Docket No. OSHA–2007–0074).
You may supplement electronic
submissions by uploading document
files electronically. If you wish to mail
additional materials in reference to an
electronic or facsimile submission, you
must submit them to the OSHA Docket
Office (see the section of this notice
titled ADDRESSES). The additional
materials must clearly identify your
electronic comments by your name,
date, and the docket number so the
Agency can attach them to your
comments.
Because of security procedures, the
use of regular mail may cause a
significant delay in the receipt of
comments. For information about
security procedures concerning the
delivery of materials by hand, express
delivery, messenger, or courier service,
please contact the OSHA Docket Office
at (202) 693–2350 (TTY (877) 889–
5627).

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Comments and submissions are
posted without change at http://
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA
cautions commenters about submitting
personal information such as social
security numbers and date of birth.
Although all submissions are listed in
the http://www.regulations.gov index,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through this Web site.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
Information on using the http://
www.regulations.gov Web site to submit
comments and access the docket is
available at the Web site’s ‘‘User Tips’’
link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office
for information about materials not
available through the Web site, and for
assistance in using the Internet to locate
docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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. 5–2007 (67 FR 31159).
Signed at Washington, DC, on October 24,
2007.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. E7–21287 Filed 10–29–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–26–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
[Docket No. OSHA–2007–0075]

Standard on the Control of Hazardous
Energy (Lockout/Tagout); Extension of
the Office of Management and
Budget’s (OMB) Approval of
Information Collection (Paperwork)
Requirements
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public
comment concerning its proposal to
extend OMB approval of the
information collection requirements
specified in the Standard on the Control
of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
(29 CFR 1910.147).
DATES: Comments must be submitted
(postmarked, sent, or received) by
December 31, 2007.

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