OSHA-7 Form (“Notice of Alleged Safety and Health Hazard”); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements, 27765-27767 [2020-09969]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Notices
2. The Title of the Form/Collection:
National Inmate Survey in Prisons (NIS–
4P).
3. The agency form number, if any,
and the applicable component of the
Department sponsoring the collection:
There is no agency form number at this
time. The applicable component within
the Department of Justice is the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, in the Office of
Justice Programs.
4. Affected public who will be asked
or required to respond, as well as a brief
abstract: Respondents will primarily be
State, Local, or Tribal Government
entities. The work under this clearance
will be used to produce estimates for the
incidence and prevalence of sexual
victimization within correctional
facilities as required under the Prison
Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (Pub. L.
108–79). The Bureau of Justice Statistics
uses this information in published
reports and for the U.S. Congress,
Executive Office of the President,
practitioners, researchers, students, the
media, and others interested in criminal
justice statistics.
In 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination
Act (PREA or the Act) was signed into
law. The Act requires BJS to ‘‘carry out,
for each calendar year, a comprehensive
statistical review and analysis of the
incidence and effects of prison rape.’’
The Act further instructs BJS to collect
survey data: ‘‘. . . the Bureau shall . . .
use surveys and other statistical studies
of current and former inmates . . .’’
To implement the Act, BJS developed
the National Prison Rape Statistics
Program (NPRS), which includes four
separate data collection efforts: The
Survey on Sexual Violence (SSV), the
National Inmate Survey (NIS), the
National Survey of Youth in Custody
(NSYC), and the National Former
Prisoner Survey (NFPS). The NIS
collects information on sexual
victimization self-reported by inmates
held in adult correctional facilities, both
prisons and jails. The NIS has been
conducted three times, in 2007 (NIS–1),
in 2008–09 (NIS–2), and in 2011–12
(NIS–3). Each iteration of NIS was
conducted in at least one facility in all
50 states and the District of Columbia.
In each iteration of the survey, inmates
completed the survey using an audio
computer-assisted self-interview
(ACASI), whereby they heard questions
and instructions via headphones and
responded to the survey items via a
touch-screen interface.
The collection requested in this notice
is the fourth iteration of the National
Inmate Survey. For NIS–4,
administration of the survey in prisons
will take place separately from survey
administration in jails. This collection
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request is specific to conducting the
survey in adult prison facilities.
The survey instrument for the NIS–4
in Prisons is slightly modified from the
previous iterations. The main difference
is the addition of a new set of incidentspecific questions administered to
respondents who affirmatively indicate
they were sexually victimized at some
point in the previous 12 months while
housed in their current prison facility.
These incident-specific questions will
provide information to the public on the
nature of sexual victimization in
prisons, such as where incidents
occurred within the facility, the
relationship between the victim and the
alleged perpetrator(s), and whether the
victim suffered any injuries as a result
of the incident, among other incident
characteristics.
5. An estimate of the total number of
respondents and the amount of time
estimated for an average respondent to
respond: Prior to data collection
commencing in 2021, BJS will
coordinate the logistics of NIS–4 survey
administration with staff at state, local,
and tribal correction facilities. Because
the administration of this survey in jails
is not included in this request, the
overall number of burden hours is lower
than in the last request approved in
2010. It is estimated that 246 facility
respondents will devote 150 minutes of
time to this coordination effort. During
data collection in 2021, an estimated
77,699 state, local, and tribal adult
inmates held in prisons will be
interviewed, with the average interview
lasting an estimated 35 minutes.
6. An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: This collection was
previously approved for implementation
in both adult prisons and jails. The
current request will only be
implemented in adult prisons, thereby
reducing the total number of facility
staff and respondents required to
participate. The total estimated NIS–4 in
Prisons public burden, inclusive of
facility staff and respondent burden
estimates and assuming a 100%
response rate, is 78,810 hours. This
comprises 19,906 hours of facility staff
burden (coordinating the
administration, completing the facility
questionnaire, and escorting inmates to
and from the interviews) and 58,904
hours of respondent interviewing
burden. The third iteration of NIS had
around a 65% response rate, so the true
burden will likely be much lower.
If additional information is required
contact: Melody Braswell, Department
Clearance Officer, United States
Department of Justice, Justice
Management Division, Policy and
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27765
Planning Staff, Two Constitution
Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.405A,
Washington, DC 20530.
Dated: May 6, 2020.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S.
Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2020–10027 Filed 5–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–18–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
[Docket No. OSHA–2010–0056]
OSHA–7 Form (‘‘Notice of Alleged
Safety and Health Hazard’’); 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 comments.
AGENCY:
OSHA solicits public
comments concerning the proposal to
extend the Office of Management and
Budget’s (OMB) approval of the
information collection requirements
contained in the OSHA–7 Form.
DATES: Comments must be submitted
(postmarked, sent, or received) by July
10, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit
comments and attachments
electronically at https://
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 a
copy of your comments and attachments
to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No.
OSHA–2010–0056, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room N–3653,
200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210. Deliveries
(hand, express mail, messenger, and
courier service) are accepted during the
OSHA Docket Office’s normal business
hours, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the agency name and the OSHA
docket number (OSHA–2010–0056) for
the Information Collection Request
(ICR). All comments, including any
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Notices
personal information you provide, such
as social security numbers and dates of
birth, are placed in the public docket
without change, and may be made
available online at https://
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 https://www.regulations.gov
or the OSHA Docket Office at the above
address. All documents in the docket
(including this Federal Register notice)
are listed in the https://
www.regulations.gov index; however,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through the website.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
You may also contact Theda Kenney at
(202) 693–2222 to obtain a copy of the
ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura Seeman, Directorate of
Enforcement Programs, OSHA, U.S.
Department of Labor, telephone (202)
693–2100.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent (i.e., employer) burden,
conducts a preclearance process 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)
(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program
ensures that information is in the
desired format, the reporting burden
(time and costs) is minimal, the
collection instruments are clearly
understood, and OSHA’s estimate of the
information collection burden is
accurate. The Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970 (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 OSHA to obtain such
information with a minimum burden
upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to
reduce to the maximum extent feasible
unnecessary duplication of effort in
obtaining said information (29 U.S.C.
657).
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17:05 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
Under paragraphs (a) and (c) of 29
CFR 1903.11 (‘‘Complaints by
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), especially the
requirement that the information be in
writing, the agency developed the
OSHA–7 Form (‘‘Notice of Alleged
Safety and Health Hazard’’); this form
standardized and simplified the hazard
reporting process. For paragraph (a),
they may complete an OSHA–7 Form
obtained from the agency’s website 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 hard copy 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 incorporates
that information into the walk around
inspection.
The information on the hard copy
version of the OSHA–7 Form includes
information about the employer and
alleged hazards, including: The
establishment’s name; 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 number of employees
exposed or threatened by the hazards;
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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 hard
copy version of the form concerns the
complainant, including: Whether or not
the complainant is an employee or an
employee representative, or 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 email address (the
hard copy currently does not), and does
not ask for the site’s facsimile number
or 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 the
employer with notice of the complaint
and may serve as the basis for obtaining
a search warrant if the 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
employees who must comply—for
example, by using automated or other
technological information collection
and transmission techniques.
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Notices
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III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is requesting that OMB extend
the approval of the information
collection requirements relating to the
OSHA–7 Form. The agency is requesting
an adjustment decrease of 75 burden
hours (from 19,258 to 19,183 burden
hours). The difference is the result of an
overall decrease in estimated
complaints received annually from
70,976 complaints to 68,896.
The agency also requests an
adjustment decrease in operation and
maintenance costs of $365 (from $701 to
$336). The decrease occurred due to a
decrease in the estimated OSHA–7
forms being mailed from 1,430 to 610
forms.
In addition, the ICR proposes several
non-substantive editorial revisions to
the hardcopy and electronic versions of
the OSHA–7 Form to clarify instructions
and modernize information sharing. The
minor edits are also requested in
response to feedback from field
management, as well as to ensure
consistency with current agency
policies and procedures.
The first change, to the ‘‘Instruction’’
field box, would add the word ‘‘health’’
to the sentence, ‘‘If there is any
particular evidence that supports your
suspicion that a hazard exists (for
instance, a recent accident or physical/
health symptoms of employees at your
site) include the information in your
description.’’ In addition, the agency
would add to the ‘‘Hazard Description/
Location’’ field box, which states,
‘‘Describe briefly the hazard(s) which
you believe exist,’’ the new phrase, ‘‘and
on what date you last observed the
hazard(s).’’ The agency also proposes to
include the addition of an email address
with which to contact the agency. The
hardcopy form would also be revised to
provide the complainant an opportunity
to provide their email address to the
agency, as the electronic form currently
provides. Other nonsubstantive editorial
changes to the forms are also proposed.
A mark-up of the proposed changes to
the English-language versions of the
form will be available in the ICR docket
for public comment. Changes made to
the Spanish-language versions of the
form will be identical to the Englishlanguage versions of the form. The
agency does not believe that the
proposed revisions to the complaint
form will further impact the adjusted
burden hours. 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 requirements.
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27767
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Title: Notice of Alleged Safety and
Health Hazards (Form OSHA–7).
OMB Control Number: 1218–0064.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Number of Respondents: 68,896.
Frequency: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Number of Responses:
68,896.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
19,183.
Estimated Cost (Operation and
Maintenance): $336.
link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office
for information about materials not
available through the website, and for
assistance in using the internet to locate
docket submissions.
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 https://
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 (Docket
No. OSHA–2010–0056) for the ICR. 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
electronic comments by your name,
date, and the docket number so that 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.
Comments and submissions are
posted without change at https://
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA
cautions commenters about submitting
personal information such as social
security numbers and dates of birth.
Although all submissions are listed in
the https://www.regulations.gov index,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through this website.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
Information on using the https://
www.regulations.gov website to submit
comments and access the docket is
available at the website’s ‘‘User Tips’’
Signed at Washington, DC, on May 5, 2020.
Loren Sweatt,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Occupational Safety and Health.
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V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy
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. 1–2012 (77 FR 3912).
[FR Doc. 2020–09969 Filed 5–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–26–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
[Docket No. OSHA–2018–0013]
Salini-Impregilo/Healy Joint Venture:
Grant of Permanent Variance
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice of permanent variance.
AGENCY:
In this notice, OSHA grants a
permanent variance to Salini-Impregilo/
Healy Joint Venture from the provisions
of OSHA standards that regulate work in
compressed-air environments.
DATES: The permanent variance
specified by this notice becomes
effective on May 11, 2020 and shall
remain in effect until the completion of
the Northeast Boundary Tunnel project.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Information regarding this notice is
available from the following sources:
Press inquiries: Contact Mr. Frank
Meilinger, Director, OSHA Office of
Communications, phone: (202) 693–
1999; email: meilinger.francis2@dol.gov.
General and Technical Information:
Contact Kevin Robinson, Director,
Office of Technical Programs and
Coordination Activities, Directorate of
Technical Support and Emergency
Management, Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, U.S. Department
of Labor; phone: (202) 693–2110 or
email: robinson.kevin@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Copies of this Federal Register
notice: Electronic copies of this Federal
Register notice are available at https://
www.regulations.gov. This Federal
Register notice and other relevant
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27765-27767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09969]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2010-0056]
OSHA-7 Form (``Notice of Alleged Safety and Health Hazard'');
Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of
Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the
information collection requirements contained in the OSHA-7 Form.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
July 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments
electronically at https://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 a copy of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2010-0056,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N-3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the OSHA Docket Office's normal business hours, 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2010-0056) for the Information Collection
Request (ICR). All comments, including any
[[Page 27766]]
personal information you provide, such as social security numbers and
dates of birth, are placed in the public docket without change, and may
be made available online at https://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 https://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at
the above address. All documents in the docket (including this Federal
Register notice) are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index;
however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly
available to read or download through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at
(202) 693-2222 to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Seeman, Directorate of
Enforcement Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone (202)
693-2100.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a
preclearance process 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) (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that information is in the desired
format, the reporting burden (time and costs) is minimal, the
collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of
the information collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 (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 OSHA to obtain
such information with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent
feasible unnecessary duplication of effort in obtaining said
information (29 U.S.C. 657).
Under paragraphs (a) and (c) of 29 CFR 1903.11 (``Complaints by
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), especially the
requirement that the information be in writing, the agency developed
the OSHA-7 Form (``Notice of Alleged Safety and Health Hazard''); this
form standardized and simplified the hazard reporting process. For
paragraph (a), they may complete an OSHA-7 Form obtained from the
agency's website 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 hard copy 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 incorporates that
information into the walk around inspection.
The information on the hard copy version of the OSHA-7 Form
includes information about the employer and alleged hazards, including:
The establishment's name; 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 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 hard copy version of the form
concerns the complainant, including: Whether or not the complainant is
an employee or an employee representative, or 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 email address (the hard copy currently does
not), and does not ask for the site's facsimile number or 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 the employer with notice of the complaint and may serve
as the basis for obtaining a search warrant if the 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 employees who must comply--
for example, by using automated or other technological information
collection and transmission techniques.
[[Page 27767]]
III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information
collection requirements relating to the OSHA-7 Form. The agency is
requesting an adjustment decrease of 75 burden hours (from 19,258 to
19,183 burden hours). The difference is the result of an overall
decrease in estimated complaints received annually from 70,976
complaints to 68,896.
The agency also requests an adjustment decrease in operation and
maintenance costs of $365 (from $701 to $336). The decrease occurred
due to a decrease in the estimated OSHA-7 forms being mailed from 1,430
to 610 forms.
In addition, the ICR proposes several non-substantive editorial
revisions to the hardcopy and electronic versions of the OSHA-7 Form to
clarify instructions and modernize information sharing. The minor edits
are also requested in response to feedback from field management, as
well as to ensure consistency with current agency policies and
procedures.
The first change, to the ``Instruction'' field box, would add the
word ``health'' to the sentence, ``If there is any particular evidence
that supports your suspicion that a hazard exists (for instance, a
recent accident or physical/health symptoms of employees at your site)
include the information in your description.'' In addition, the agency
would add to the ``Hazard Description/Location'' field box, which
states, ``Describe briefly the hazard(s) which you believe exist,'' the
new phrase, ``and on what date you last observed the hazard(s).'' The
agency also proposes to include the addition of an email address with
which to contact the agency. The hardcopy form would also be revised to
provide the complainant an opportunity to provide their email address
to the agency, as the electronic form currently provides. Other
nonsubstantive editorial changes to the forms are also proposed.
A mark-up of the proposed changes to the English-language versions
of the form will be available in the ICR docket for public comment.
Changes made to the Spanish-language versions of the form will be
identical to the English-language versions of the form. The agency does
not believe that the proposed revisions to the complaint form will
further impact the adjusted burden hours. 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 requirements.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Title: Notice of Alleged Safety and Health Hazards (Form OSHA-7).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0064.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Number of Respondents: 68,896.
Frequency: On occasion.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Number of Responses: 68,896.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19,183.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $336.
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 https://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 (Docket No. OSHA-2010-0056) for the ICR. 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 electronic comments by
your name, date, and the docket number so that 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.
Comments and submissions are posted without change at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and
dates of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to read or download through this
website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the https://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and
access the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not
available through the website, and for assistance in using the internet
to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy 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. 1-2012
(77 FR 3912).
Signed at Washington, DC, on May 5, 2020.
Loren Sweatt,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety
and Health.
[FR Doc. 2020-09969 Filed 5-8-20; 8:45 am]
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