OSHA Solicits Comments Concerning the Collection of Information for I2P2 Rulemaking Effort

Submitted by scott.madar on August 25, 2010 - 3:53pm

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is undertaking a rulemaking effort directed toward requiring employers to establish injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2) to monitor and more effectively implement practices to mitigate workplace hazards, thereby reducing the incidence of employee injuries and illnesses. OSHA believes that widespread implementation of such programs will substantially improve overall workplace safety and health conditions.

To gain information needed to support this rulemaking effort, OSHA is proposing to conduct a statistical survey of private sector establishments in non-agricultural industries. The goal of the survey is to develop industry-specific, statistically accurate estimates of the current prevalence of a variety of baseline safety and health practices that may be elements of injury and illness prevention programs among establishments. OSHA also proposes to conduct case study interviews in two sectors: (1) establishments in the agriculture sector to assess the prevalence of safety and health practices among farms with more than 10 workers; and (2) interviews with government officials in State Plan states to assess safety and heath practices among agencies and departments operated by state and local governments in State Plan states.

In addition to the statistical survey (Baseline Safety and Health Practices) described above—which also includes ‘‘case studies’’ in two industry sectors that could not be adequately sampled by the survey methodology—the Agency is proposing to conduct as many as 50 site visits to employers. These employers could potentially be affected by a new standard that could require a management program or system to address workplace hazards. Site visits would collect information on current employer practices (much like the information collected in the ‘‘case studies’’ and the survey questionnaire itself), but also solicit information from employers on how they would comply with such a regulation and what time or costs would be required to do so. Site visit reports capture much richer detail about employer conditions than the survey instrument, reflecting variations of employer size and industry sector. These site visits would be conducted either by OSHA personnel or a contractor under the agency’s direction.
 
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.
 
For more information about this request, please see the attached Federal Register notice.
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OSHA_I2P2_Info_Request_12Aug2010.pdf54.99 KB