OSHA welcomes comments and data from the public regarding any
aspect of the proposed requirement for electronic submission of Part
1904 injury and illness records. More specifically, the following
questions are relevant to this rulemaking:
     What are the implications of requiring all data to be
submitted electronically? This proposed rule would be among the first
in the federal government without a paper submission option.
     More current BLS injury and illness data will be available
at the time of the final rulemaking. Use of newer data may result in
changes to the proposed industry coverage. Should OSHA use the most
current data available in determining coverage for its final rule?
Would this leave affected entities without proper notice and the
opportunity to provide substantive comment?
     Should the electronic submission requirement be phased in,
with a paper submission option available for a certain period of time
at the beginning for some or all of the establishments subject to the
proposed rule, or should the electronic submission requirement take
effect immediately?
     What are the implications of a phased-in electronic
submission requirement versus an immediate electronic submission
requirement for establishments subject to proposed Sec.  1904.41(a)(1)
Quarterly electronic submission of Part 1904 records by establishments
with 250 or more employees?
     What are the implications of a phased-in electronic
submission requirement versus an immediate electronic submission
requirement for establishments subject to proposed Sec.  1904.41(a)(2)
Annual electronic submission of OSHA annual summary form (Form 300A) by
establishments with 20 or more employees in designated industries?
     How should the electronic data submission system be
designed? How can OSHA create a system that is easy to use and
compatible with other electronic systems that track and report
establishment-specific injury and illness data?
     Should the electronic data submission system be designed
to include updates? Sec.  1904.33(b) requires employers to update OSHA
Logs to include newly-discovered recordable injuries or illnesses and
to show any changes that have occurred in the classification of
previously-recorded injuries and illnesses.
     How can OSHA use the electronic submission requirement to
improve the accuracy of injury and illness records by encouraging
careful reporting and recording of work-related injuries and illnesses?
     How should OSHA design an effective quality assurance
program for the electronic submission of injury and illness records?
     What additional steps, if any, should the Agency take to
protect employee privacy interests?
     Are there views on the issue of OSHA recordkeeping forms
and confidential commercial information?
     Which categories of information, from which OSHA-required
form, would it be useful to publish?
     What analytical tools could be developed and provided to
employers to increase their ability to effectively use the injury and
illness data they submit electronically?
     How can OSHA help employers, especially small-business
employers, to comply with the requirements of electronic data
submission of their injury and illness records? Would training help,
and if so, what kind?
     Should this data collection be limited to the records
required under Part 1904? Are there other required OSHA records that
could be collected and made available to the public in order to improve
workplace safety and health?
     For the proposed Sec.  1904.41(a)(1) (Quarterly electronic
submission of Part 1904 records by establishments with 250 or more
employees), what would be the advantages and disadvantages of making
submission monthly, rather than quarterly?
     For the proposed Sec.  1904.41(a)(1) (Quarterly electronic
submission of Part 1904 records by establishments with 250 or more
employees), what would be the advantages and disadvantages of making
submission annual, rather than quarterly?
     For the proposed Sec.  1904.41(a)(1) (Quarterly electronic
submission of Part 1904 records by establishments with 250 or more
employees), is 250 or more employees the appropriate size criterion?
How much burden would this impose on establishments with 250-500
employees? If the size criterion were lowered to 100 or more employees,
how much burden would this impose on establishments with 100-250
employees?
     Should the designated industries for proposed Sec.
1904.41(a)(2) (Annual electronic submission of OSHA annual summary form
(Form 300A) by establishments with 20 or more employees in designated
industries) remain the same each year, or should the list be adjusted
each year to reflect the most current BLS injury and illness data? If
so, how could OSHA best inform affected establishments about the
adjustments?
     How can OSHA help employees and potential employees use
the data collected under this proposed rule?

V. Preliminary Economic Analysis and Regulatory Flexibility
Certification

a. Introduction

    Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 require that OSHA estimate the
benefits, costs, and net benefits of proposed regulations. Executive
Orders 12866 and 13563, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act also require OSHA to estimate the costs,
assess the benefits, and analyze the impacts of certain rules that the
Agency promulgates. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to
assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and,
if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that
maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental,
public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity).
Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both
costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting
flexibility.
    OSHA estimates that this rule will have economic costs of $11.9
million per year, including $10.5 million per year to the private
sector, with costs of $183 per year for affected establishments with
250 or more employees and $9 per year for affected establishments with
20 or more employees in designated industries. The Agency believes that
the annual benefits, while unquantified, significantly exceed the
annual costs.
    The proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
Executive Order 12866 or the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) (2
U.S.C. 1532(a)), and it is not a ``major rule'' under the Congressional
Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). The Agency estimates that the
rulemaking imposes far less than $100 million in annual economic costs.
In addition, it does not meet any of the other criteria specified by
UMRA or the Congressional Review Act for a significant regulatory
action or major rule. This Preliminary Economic

Analysis (PEA) addresses the costs, benefits, and economic impacts of
the proposed rule.
    The proposed rule will make three changes to the existing recording
and reporting requirements in Part 1904.
    First, OSHA will require establishments that are required to keep
injury and illness records under Part 1904, and that had 250 or more
employees in the previous year, to electronically submit information
from all of these required records to OSHA or OSHA's designee, on a
quarterly basis.
    Second, OSHA will require establishments that are required to keep
injury and illness records under Part 1904, had 20 or more employees in
the previous year, and are in certain designated industries, to
electronically submit the information from the OSHA annual summary form
(Form 300A) to OSHA or OSHA's designee, on an annual basis. This
requirement will replace OSHA's annual illness and injury survey,
authorized by the current version of 29 CFR 1904.41.
    Third, OSHA will require all employers who receive notification
from OSHA to electronically submit information from their injury and
illness records to OSHA or OSHA's designee.
    The proposed rule does not add to or change any employer's
obligation to complete, retain, and certify injury and illness records.
The proposed rule also does not add to or change the recording criteria
or definitions for these records. The only change is that, under
certain circumstances, employers will be obligated to transmit
information from these records to OSHA in an electronic format (either
a file or by a secure Web page). Many employers are already doing this
through the OSHA Data Initiative and the BLS Survey of Occupational
Injuries and Illnesses.
    The electronic submission of information to OSHA would be a
relatively simple and quick matter. In most cases, submitting
information to OSHA would require several basic steps: (1) Logging on
to OSHA's web-based submission system; (2) entering basic establishment
information into the system; (3) copying the required injury and
illness information from the establishment's paper forms into the
electronic submission forms; and (4) hitting a button to submit the
information to OSHA. In many cases, especially for large
establishments, OSHA data are already kept electronically, so step 3,
which is likely the most time-intensive, would not be necessary. In
those cases, the establishment would be able to submit its electronic
information, in the format in which it is kept, to OSHA without having
to transfer it into OSHA's online format. The submission system, as
anticipated, would also save an establishment's information from one
submission to the next, so step 2 might be eliminated for most
establishments after the first submission.

b. Costs

1. Sec.  1904.41(a)(1)--Quarterly Electronic Submission of Part 1904
Records by Establishments With 250 or More Employees
    To obtain the estimated cost of electronic data submission per
establishment, OSHA began by multiplying the compensation per hour (in
dollars) of the person expected to perform the task of electronic
submission by the time required for the electronic data submission.
OSHA then multiplied this cost per establishment by the estimated
number of establishments that would be required to submit data, to
obtain the total estimated costs of this part of the proposed rule.
    To estimate the compensation of the person expected to perform the
task of electronic data submission, OSHA assumed that recordkeeping
tasks are most commonly performed by a Human Resource, Training, and
Labor Relations Specialist, Not Elsewhere Classified (Human Resources
Specialist). OSHA made the same assumption in the PEA for the proposed
rule on restoring a column to the OSHA 300 Log that employers would use
to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (75 FR 10738-
10739 (March 9, 2010)). OSHA estimated compensation using May 2008 data
from the BLS Occupational Employment Survey (OES), reporting a mean
hourly wage of $28 for Human Resources Specialists, and June 2009 data
from the BLS National Compensation Survey, reporting a mean fringe
benefit factor of 1.43 for civilian workers in general. OSHA multiplied
the mean hourly wage ($28) by the mean fringe benefit factor (1.43) to
obtain an estimated total compensation (wages and benefits) for Human
Resources Specialists of $40.04 per hour ([$28 per hour] x 1.43).
    OSHA recognizes that not all firms assign the responsibility for
recordkeeping to a Human Resources Specialist. For example, a smaller
firm may use a bookkeeper, while a larger firm may use an occupational
safety and health specialist. However, OSHA believes that the
calculated cost of $40.04 per hour is a reasonable estimate of the
hourly compensation of a representative recordkeeper. OSHA welcomes
comments on the issue of hourly compensation costs for representative
recordkeepers.
    For time required for the data submission, OSHA used the estimated
unit time requirements reported by BLS in their paperwork burden
analysis for the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII)
(OMB Control Number 1220-0045, expires October 31, 2013).\3\ BLS
estimated 10 minutes per recordable injury/illness case for electronic
submission of the information on Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident
Report). BLS also estimated 10 minutes per establishment, total, for
electronic submission of the information on both Form 300 (Log of Work-
Related Injuries and Illnesses) and 300A (Summary of Work-Related
Injuries and Illnesses). OSHA believes that this may overestimate the
time required for electronic submission of Form 300 and 300A
information to OSHA, because each establishment's annual submissions
will consist of four submissions of Form 300 information but only one
submission of Form 300A information. However, OSHA assumes that most of
the time required for submission of Form 300A information will be spent
on the submission process (i.e., logging on and off the data submission
site, assuring the accuracy of log-on information, and so on), rather
than on entry of the limited amount of information on the form.
Therefore, OSHA considers it appropriate to use the BLS estimate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ The ODI paperwork analysis (1218-0209) takes an average time
of 10 minutes per response for submitting Form 300A data. The ODI
does not require submission of Form 301 data. The 10 minute estimate
form the ODI is equal to the 10 minute estimate from the BLS SOII
for submission of the same data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Using the information on estimated hourly compensation of
recordkeepers and estimated time required for data submission, OSHA
calculated that the estimated cost per establishment with 250 or more
workers for quarterly data submission of the information on Forms 300
and 300A would be $26.69 per year ([10 minutes per data submission] x
[1 hour per 60 minutes] x [$40.04 per hour] x [4 data submissions per
year]). In addition, the estimated cost per recordable injury/illness
case would be $6.67 ([10 minutes per case] x [1 hour per 60 minutes] x
[$40.04 per hour]).
    To calculate the total estimated costs of this part of the proposed
rule, OSHA used establishment and employment counts from the U.S.
Census County Business Patterns (CBP), and injury and illness counts
from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

(SOII).\4\ CBP data show that there are 38,094 establishments with 250
or more employees in the industries covered by this section. These
establishments would be required to electronically report detailed
injury and illness information on a quarterly basis under the proposed
rule. The CBP data also indicate that these large establishments employ
35.8% of all employees in the covered industries. The BLS data show a
total of 2,486,500 injuries and illnesses that occurred in the covered
industries. To calculate the number of injuries and illnesses that will
be reported by covered establishments with 250 or more employees, OSHA
assumed that total recordable cases in establishments with 250 or more
employees would be proportional to their percentage of employment
within the industry. Thus, OSHA estimates that 890,288 injury and
illness cases will be reported per year by establishments with 250 or
more employees that are covered by this section.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ For the CBP see: http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/. For the
SOII see: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OSHA then calculated an estimated total cost of quarterly data
submission of non-case information of $1,016,729 ([38,094
establishments required to submit data quarterly] x [$26.69 for
electronic data submission per year]). In addition, OSHA calculated an
estimated total cost of quarterly data submission of case information
of $5,938,221 ([890,288 injury/illness cases per year at affected
establishments] x [$6.67 per injury/illness case]). Summing these two
costs yields a total cost of $6,954,950 per year ($1,016,729 +
$5,938,221), for an average cost per affected establishment of $183 per
year.
    OSHA is interested in comments on all aspects of this preliminary
estimate. In addition, these cost estimates assume that all
establishments with 250 or more employees will be able to report
electronically with existing facilities and equipment. OSHA welcomes
any examples of such establishments that cannot report electronically
with existing facilities and equipment or data sources showing that
such establishments exist.
    These cost estimates also include establishments currently included
in the OSHA Data Initiative. OSHA did not calculate a comparison
between the current costs of annual submission of some Part 1904
recordkeeping information under the ODI and the costs of quarterly
electronic data submission of all Part 1904 recordkeeping information
under the proposed rule. However, for establishments that are already
included in the current ODI, the additional costs of quarterly
electronic data reporting under this part of the proposed rule will be
less than the calculated $183 per year.
2. Sec.  1904.41(a)(2)--Annual Electronic Submission of OSHA Annual
Summary Form (Form 300A) by Establishments With 20 or More Employees in
Designated Industries
    As in the previous section on quarterly electronic submission of
Part 1904 records from establishments with 250 or more employees, OSHA
first obtained the estimated cost of electronic data submission per
establishment by multiplying the compensation per hour (in dollars) for
the person expected to perform the task of electronic data submission
by the time required for the electronic data submission. OSHA then
multiplied this cost by the estimated number of establishments that
would be required to submit data, to obtain the total estimated costs
of this part of the proposed rule.
    As in the previous section, for compensation per hour, OSHA used
the calculated cost of $40.04 per hour as a reasonable estimate of the
hourly compensation of a representative recordkeeper.
    OSHA used the BLS estimate of 10 minutes per establishment for
electronic submission of the information on Forms 300 (Log of Work-
Related Injuries or Illnesses) and 300A (Summary of Work-Related
Injuries and Illnesses) to estimate the time required for this
submission. This may be an overestimate, because the requirement in
this part of the proposed rule is for electronic submission of
information from Form 300A only. However, OSHA assumes that most of the
time required for submission of Form 300A information will be spent on
the submission process (i.e., logging on and off the data submission
site, assuring the accuracy of log-on information, and so on), rather
than on entry of the limited amount of information on the form.
Therefore, OSHA considers it appropriate to use the BLS estimate.
    The estimated cost per establishment for electronic submittal under
this part of the proposed rule is thus $6.67 per year ([$40.04 per
hour] x [10 minutes per data submission] x [1 hour per 60 minutes] x
[one data submission per year]).
    To estimate the number of establishments affected, OSHA assumed
that this part of the proposed rule would require annual electronic
data submission from establishments with 20 or more employees in the
non-exempt industries listed in the proposed rule. Under these
criteria, 440,863 establishments would be subject to this part of the
proposed rule.
    However, many of these establishments are already submitting these
data to OSHA through the current OSHA Data Initiative (ODI). 47,700
establishments of the 68,600 establishments in the 2010 ODI (70%)
submitted their data electronically. Because these establishments are
already submitting the data required by this part of the proposed rule,
in the manner required by this part of the proposed rule, it is
reasonable to assume that this part of the proposed rule will not
result in any new costs for these 47,700 establishments. OSHA has no
reason to think that establishments in the ODI are any different in
terms of recordkeeping compliance rates from the expanded number of
establishments affected by this proposed rule. The reason for this is
that the underlying population for both the ODI sample and this
expanded reporting sample are part of the same universe: Establishments
already required to keep records.
    As a result, if all of the affected establishments have on-site
access to a computer and an adequate Internet connection, OSHA
estimates that the direct labor cost of this part of the proposed rule
would be $2,622,397 ([$6.67 per establishment per year] -([440,863
establishments affected under the proposed rule] -[47,700
establishments already submitting electronically to the ODI])).
    However, as noted above, 30% of establishments in the 2010 ODI did
not submit data electronically. One possible reason for this choice is
that, for some of the establishments affected by this part of the
proposed rule, it is difficult to submit data electronically. Most
agencies currently allow non-electronic filing of information, and some
businesses continue to use this option, despite strong encouragement by
agencies to file electronically.
    OSHA searched for but was unable to find information on the
proportion of all businesses without access to a computer and the
Internet. However, OSHA did find a survey, conducted by a contractor
for the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA)
in the spring of 2010, on the use of Internet connectivity by small
businesses, called ``The Impact of Broadband Speed and Price on Small
Business'' (http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/rs373tot_0.pdf).
This survey suggests that at least 90 percent of small businesses
surveyed use the Internet at their business. Further, the survey noted
that 75 percent of all small businesses not using the Internet were
small

businesses with five or fewer employees. Given the survey's estimates
that 50 percent of small businesses have fewer than 5 employees, this
means that 95 percent of all small businesses with five or more
employees have Internet connections. OSHA believes that even this 95
percent is an underestimate for two reasons. First, the survey is three
years old, and during the past three years the cost of both computer
equipment and Internet access has fallen (for example, since May 2008
the BLS Personal Computer Index has fallen by 12 percent; http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SEEE01?output_view=pct_3mths).
Second, the survey is of small entities, not establishments. OSHA can
show that a significant proportion of small establishments are a part
of non-small entities, and those larger entities are even more likely
to have computers and Internet connections.
    It also needs to be noted that the minimum establishment size
affected by this proposed rule is 20 employees. It is reasonable to
assume that even a smaller percentage of firms with 20 or more
employees lack a computer with an Internet connection.
    OSHA was able to find only two current Federal Government data
collection programs that require data to be submitted electronically.
     Effective January 1, 2010, the Department of Labor's
Employee Benefits Security Administration requires the electronic
filing of all Form 5500 Annual Returns/Reports of Employee Benefit Plan
and all Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Returns/Reports of Small
Employee Benefit Plan for 2009 and 2010 plan years, as well as any
required schedules and attachments, using EFAST2-approved third-party
software or iFile. EFAST2 is an all-electronic system designed by the
Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation to simplify and expedite the submission, receipt,
and processing of the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF. These forms must be
electronically filed each year by employee benefit plans to satisfy
annual reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. Under EFAST2,
filers choose between using EFAST2-approved vendor software or a free
limited-function web application (IFILE) to prepare and submit the Form
5500 or Form 5500-SF. Completed forms are submitted via the Internet to
EFAST2 for processing.
     Under the mandatory electronic filing provisions (11 CFR
104.18) of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), effective January 1,
2001, any political committee or other person that is required to file
reports with the FEC and that receives contributions or makes
expenditures in excess of $50,000 in the current calendar year, or has
reason to expect to do so, must submit its reports electronically.
    All other current data collection programs identified by OSHA
provide a non-electronic option for data submission, including the OSHA
Data Initiative (ODI); various databases at the Environmental
Protection Agency, including the Toxics Release Inventory Program
(TRI); and programs administered by the Internal Revenue Service, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau (including
business data).
    As noted above, even a dated survey from 2010 found that 95 percent
of small businesses with 5 or more employees had a computer with an
Internet connection. The Department of Commerce estimated in 2009 that
69% and 64% of U.S. households, respectively, had any kind of Internet
access and broad-band Internet access specifically (National
Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, ``Table 2 Households using the Internet in and outside the
home, by selected characteristics: Total, Urban, Rural, Principal City,
2009 (Numbers in Thousands)'', http://www.ntia.doc.gov/legacy/data/CPS2009_Tables.html). In addition, households with higher incomes and
levels of education were more likely to have Internet access at home,
and home Internet access among employed householders was 78%, compared
to 65% among unemployed householders and 52% among householders not in
the labor force.
    It seems reasonable to assume that business owners, as a group,
have higher incomes and labor force participation rates than the U.S.
population as a whole. And data from the 2007 Survey on Small Business
Owners, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, show that business owners
have higher levels of education; 74% of the business owners had at
least some post-high school education and 45% had at least a bachelor's
degree, compared to 55% and 30% among the general U.S. population aged
25 and older in 2010 (U.S. Census, ``Table 1. Educational Attainment of
the Population 18 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic
Origin: 2010'', http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2010/Table1-01.xls, accessed June 15, 2011). Further, a small business
owner without an office or home computer may own a smart phone, which
could easily be used for transmitting the data in this very simple
form.
    To account for the lack of direct data on computers and Internet
access among small businesses and the presumed increase in Internet
usage since the indirect data were obtained, OSHA will estimate that
95% of the 440,863 establishments subject to this part of the proposed
rule (i.e., 418,820 establishments) have access to a computer with an
Internet connection, either at home or at work. OSHA believes that the
actual percentage of establishments with Internet access at the office,
home, or by smart phone is larger than this estimated value. OSHA
welcomes comment on this issue. The remaining 22,043 establishments
would have to either buy additional equipment and/or services or use
off-site facilities, such as public libraries. OSHA preliminarily
estimates that finding and using such off-site facilities would add an
hour (including transportation and waiting time) to the time required
by the recordkeeper to submit the data electronically. This would lead
to additional costs of $882,607 per year ([440,863 establishments] x
[5% of these establishments] x [1 hour for finding and using off-site
facilities] x [$40.04 per hour]). OSHA is interested in comments on all
aspects of this preliminary estimate.
    The total costs of this part of the proposed rule are the direct
labor cost of electronic submittal ($2,622,397) for the 393,163
establishments subject to the rule and not already electronically
submitting the data to OSHA through the ODI, plus the additional cost
for 5% of the affected 440,863 establishments of going off-site to
submit the data electronically ($882,607). A last cost of $189,935, for
those establishments that do not currently certify their records, is
discussed below. Thus, the total cost is $3,695,939 per year, or an
approximate estimated average of $9.40 per affected establishment
([$3,695,939 per year]/([440,863 establishments affected under the
proposed rule] - [47,700 establishments already submitting
electronically to the ODI])).
    Note that these cost estimates include establishments that would
already be submitting these data under the proposed requirement for
quarterly electronic submission of Part 1904 records by establishments
with 250 or more employees. Of the 38,094 establishments that would be
affected by the proposed requirement for quarterly submission of
records by establishments with 250 or more employees, 17,491 would also
be affected by the proposed requirement

for annual electronic submission of OSHA annual summary form (Form
300A) by establishments with 20 or more employees in designated
industries. However, the cost estimate has already removed many of
these 17,491 establishments as part of the 47,700 establishments
subject to this part of the proposed rule and currently submitting
annual information electronically to OSHA through the ODI. The number
of establishments that would be affected by both the quarterly
submission requirement and the annual submission requirement, and that
are not currently submitting information electronically to OSHA through
the ODI, is probably too small to make a significant difference in the
calculated costs of $3.7 million per year.
    A small percentage of establishments currently subject to Part 1904
do not fully comply with the requirement in Sec.  1904.32(a)(3) to
certify the accuracy of each year's records. OSHA determined, based on
inspection data, that in 2010 about 1.6 percent of establishments
undergoing inspection had violations of the recordkeeping certification
requirement. OSHA has estimated costs and a paperwork burden for the
time these employers would spend reviewing their data for certification
purposes. Because this data collection would make it obvious to these
employers that a record has not been certified, OSHA included the full
costs of certification for those not in compliance with Sec.
1904.32(a)(3) as a cost of this rule. The number of those that do not
comply may be estimated by multiplying 1.6 percent times 360,863
establishments subject to the rule but not currently in the ODI
(440,863 total establishments minus 80,000 in ODI). The resulting
figure is only 5,774 establishments not currently in compliance. The
cost for these non-compliers to comply with Sec.  1904.32(a)(3) by
completing certification is $189,935. This is calculated by multiplying
30 minutes by 5,774 establishments (resulting in 2,887 hours) times the
adjusted hourly wage for a certifying official ($65.79). This wage
reflects the hourly wage plus benefits of an Industrial Production
Manager (OES 11-3051), the same occupation used for certification of
records in other OSHA recordkeeping regulations. OSHA invites comments
on whether 1.6 percent is the actual certification non-compliance rate
for firms subject to Part 1904, and on whether the adjusted wage of
$65.79 is, on average, the correct wage rate for individuals certifying
annual recordkeeping logs.
    OSHA believes, and current ICRs support, that 30 minutes is the
appropriate amount of time required, on average, for certification.
However, it is possible to exhibit a range of time requirements. If,
for example, the certifying officials are especially productive at
certification, perhaps because the injury and illness records are well-
maintained or because they are able to work off existing finalized
summary reports sent to Workers' Compensation insurance agencies, then
it may only take 15 minutes, on average, to complete the certification.
In that case, the total cost would be just $94,967. On the other hand,
perhaps the certifying officials have become less productive since the
previous ICRs. If it now takes a certifying official one hour instead
of 30 minutes to certify, then the total cost for non-complying
establishments would be $379,870.
3. Sec.  1904.41(a)(3)--Electronic Submission of Part 1904 Records Upon
Notification
    This part of the proposed rule has no immediate costs or economic
impacts. Under this part of the proposed rule, an establishment will be
required to submit data electronically if OSHA notifies the
establishment to do so as part of a specified data collection. Each
specified data collection would be associated with its own particular
costs, benefits, and economic impacts, which OSHA would estimate as
part of obtaining OMB approval for the specified data collection under
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
4. Budget Costs to the Government for the Creation of the Reporting
System, Helpdesk Assistance, and Administration of the Electronic
Submission Program
    While OSHA has not typically included the cost of administering a
new regulation in the preliminary economic analysis, in this document
the Agency has included such costs because they represent a significant
fraction of the total costs of the regulation. These costs will be
offset by budget savings from the discontinuation of the current ODI
survey. The program lifecycle costs can be categorized into IT hardware
and software costs, helpdesk costs, and OSHA program management
personnel costs. OSHA received estimates for the lifecycle costs from
three sources: an OSHA contractor, the BLS, and OSHA offices.
    According to OSHA's Office of Web Services, the creation of the
reporting system hardware and software infrastructure will have an
initial cost of $1,545,162. Annualized over 10 years at seven percent
interest, this is $219,996 per year.
    BLS provided a unit cost estimate of 28 cents per transaction. This
would amount to $372,000 per year for about 1.3 million transactions.
Adding annual help desk costs of $200,000 would make the total
$572,000.
    The contractor and OSHA's Office of Web Services provided higher
budget estimates. The contractor suggested that annual costs could be
as high as $953,000, while the OSHA Office of Web Services suggested a
cost of $626,000 per year. OSHA will also continue to require three
full-time-equivalent workers (FTEs) to administer the new electronic
recordkeeping system. OSHA believes these FTEs will cost the government
$150,000 each, including salary and benefits, for a total of $450,000
per year. Added to the BLS cost of $572,000 and the annualized start-up
cost of $220,000, this would amount to $1,242,000, or just over $1.2
million, and less than the budget of the current ODI. Adding the FTE
costs to the contractor and OSHA Office of Web Services estimates,
along with the annualized start-up cost yields a range of between $1.2
million and $1.6 million per year. For its best estimate, OSHA will use
the BLS estimated costs per transaction, because this estimate is based
on actual experience with implementing a similar program.
5. Total Costs of the Rule
    As shown in the table below, the total costs of the proposed rule
would be an estimated $11.9 million per year.

               Table V-1--Total Costs of the Proposed Rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Cost element                         Annual costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quarterly electronic submission of Part 1904 records          $6,954,950
 by establishments with 250 or more employees........
Annual electronic submission of OSHA annual summary            3,695,939
 form (Form 300A) by establishments with 20 or more
 employees in designated industries..................
This includes:
    Cost for annual electronic submission............          2,622,397

    Cost for establishments without a computer.......            883,607
    Cost for establishments with non-certified                   189,935
     records.........................................
Electronic submission of Part 1904 records upon                      * 0
 notification........................................
Total Private Sector Costs...........................         10,650,889
Total Government Costs...............................          1,242,000
                                                      ------------------
    Total............................................         11,892,889
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This part of the proposed rule has no immediate costs or economic
  impacts. Under this part of the proposed rule, an establishment would
  be required to submit data electronically if OSHA notified the
  establishment to do so as part of a specified data collection. Each
  specified data collection would be associated with its own particular
  costs, benefits, and economic impacts, which OSHA would estimate as
  part of obtaining OMB approval for the specified data collection under
  the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

    The above costs include the costs (estimated to be $189,935) for
establishments that are currently out of compliance with the existing
certification requirements to come into compliance with these
requirements before electronically submitting their data to OSHA.
However, OSHA did not include costs related to another possibility--
namely, that this proposal would result in increased costs for meeting
OSHA recordkeeping requirements by employers who currently certify that
their records are accurate, because these employers will take more
pains to ensure accuracy if the records are electronically submitted to
OSHA. There are several reasons why OSHA assumes no added burden for
these employers who already certify that their records are accurate.
    First, as noted, the proposed rule does not add to or change any
employer's obligation to complete, retain, and certify injury and
illness records. The proposed rule also does not add to or change the
recording criteria or definitions for these records. The only change is
that, under certain circumstances, employers will be obligated to
transmit information from these records to OSHA in an electronic format
(either a file or by a secure Web page). Many employers are already
doing this through the OSHA Data Initiative; these employers have not
commented, either on the rule or on the paperwork analyses, that they
incurred additional costs beyond those that OSHA estimated (see for
example the ODI ICR<PHONE_NUMBER>-012 and the SOII ICR<PHONE_NUMBER>-001).
    Second, employers are already required to examine and certify the
information they collect, under penalty of perjury. Employers who are
already sufficiently satisfied with the accuracy of their records to
accept the risk of a criminal penalty are unlikely to do more simply
because they must electronically submit the records to OSHA. Therefore,
the prospect of submitting their data to OSHA would not provide any
additional incentive to carefully record injuries and illnesses.
    Third, injury and illness records kept under Part 1904 are already
available to OSHA and the public in a variety of ways. The annual
summary data must be posted where employees can see it. Employees or
their representatives can also obtain and publicize most of the
information from these records at any time, if they so wish. These are
the people who are most likely to recognize if the records are
inaccurate. Finally, OSHA Compliance Officers routinely review these
records when they perform workplace inspections. While OSHA inspections
are a rare event for the typical business, they are much more common
for firms with over twenty employees in the kinds of higher-hazard
industries subject to this rule.
    Nevertheless, OSHA welcomes comment on the issue of whether
employers newly required to submit records to OSHA may spend additional
time assuring the accuracy of their records, beyond what they spend
now. If all 360,000 facilities (440,863 minus 80,000) not now
submitting data to ODI were to spend an extra half hour for a human
resources specialist to double-check the data prior to submission, then
the costs of this rule would increase by $7.2 million. While this would
be a substantial addition to the costs of the rule, such an addition
would not alter OSHA's conclusion that this is neither an economically-
significant rule nor a rule that would impose significant costs on a
substantial number of small businesses.

c. Benefits

    OSHA anticipates that establishments' electronic submission of
establishment-specific injury/illness data will improve OSHA's ability
to identify, target, and remove safety and health hazards, thereby
preventing workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths. In addition, OSHA
believes that the data submission requirements of the proposed rule
will improve the quality of the information and lead employers to
increase workplace safety.
    Finally, the Agency plans to make the injury and illness data
public, as encouraged by President Obama's Open Government Initiative.
Online access to these data will allow the public, including employees
and potential employees, researchers, employers, and workplace safety
consultants, to use and benefit from the data. It will support the
development of innovative ideas and allow everybody with a stake in
workplace safety to participate in improving occupational safety and
health. The data collected by BLS is mostly used in the aggregate.
While BLS makes micro data available in a restricted way to
researchers, OSHA will make micro data, including case data, available
to researchers and the public with far fewer restrictions.
    The BLS SOII is used as a basis for much of the research on
workplace safety and health in the US. Typical examples include
Economic Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness in the United
States, by J. Paul Leigh (2011); Analyzing the Equity and Efficiency of
OSHA Enforcement, by Wayne B. Gray and John T. Scholz (1991);
Establishment Size and Risk of Occupational Injury, by Dr. Arthur
Oleinick MD, JD, MPH, Jeremy V. Gluck Ph.D., MPH, and Kenneth E. Guire
(1995); and Occupational Injury Rates in the U.S Hotel Industry, by
Susan Buchanan et al. in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine
(2010). Some of these studies, such as Gray and Sholtz, use
establishment data previously only available on site at BLS.
    The data base resulting from this proposed rule would provide for
the use of establishment-specific data without having to work under the
restrictions imposed by BLS for the use of confidential data. It would
also provide data on injury and illness classifications that are not
currently available from any source, including the BLS SOII.
Specifically, under this collection, there would be case-specific data
for injuries

and illnesses that do not involve days away from work. The BLS case and
demographic data is limited to cases involving days away from work and
a small subset of cases involving restricted work activity.
    In order to determine possible monetary benefits to this rule, OSHA
calculated the value of statistical life (VSL) using Viscusi & Aldy's
(2003) meta-analysis of studies in the economics literature that use a
willingness-to-pay methodology to estimate the imputed value of life-
saving programs. The authors found that each fatality avoided was
valued at approximately $7 million in 2000 dollars. Using the GDP
Deflator (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2010), OSHA estimated that
this $7 million base number in 2000 dollars yields an estimate of $8.7
million in 2009 dollars for each fatality avoided.
    Many injuries and fatalities can be prevented at minimal costs. For
example, the costs of greater use of already-purchased personal
protective equipment are minimal, yet many fatalities described in
OSHA's IMIS system could have been prevented through the use of
available personal protective equipment. This includes fatalities
related to falls when a person was wearing fall protection but did not
have the lanyard attached and to electric shocks where arc protection
was available or left in the truck. For such minimal-cost preventative
measures, assuming they have costs of prevention of less than $1
million per fatality prevented and using the VSL of $8.7 million and
other parameters typically used in OSHA benefits, if the proposed rule
leads to either 1.5 fewer fatalities or 0.025% fewer injuries per year,
the rule's benefits will be equal to or greater than the costs. Many
accident-prevention measures will have some costs, but even if these
costs are 75 percent of the benefits, the proposed rule would have
benefits exceeding costs if it prevented 4.8 fatalities or 0.8% fewer
injuries per year. OSHA expects the rule's beneficial effects to exceed
these values.

d. Regulatory Alternatives

1. Estimated Additional Costs for Alternative I--Enterprise-Wide
Submission
    OSHA estimated costs for corporate reporting for three different
scope options for this requirement. All of the scope options are for
enterprises with five or more establishments, but the options vary with
respect to the size of establishment that the enterprise would need to
include in the enterprise report.
    According to Dun and Bradstreet (2012), there are 28,127
enterprises with five or more establishments subject to OSHA
recordkeeping requirements. These enterprises have a total of 584,662
establishments.
    Under the first scope option, labeled ``Establishments with 1 or
more'' in Table V-2, enterprises would be required to include in their
report all establishments subject to reporting requirements, regardless
of the establishments' number of employees. This option would require
reporting for 584,662 establishments.
    OSHA also examined an option that would require reporting only for
establishments with 11 or more employees, labeled ``Establishments with
11 or more'' in Table V-2. This option would require reporting for
291,425 establishments.
    A third option, ``Establishments with 20 or more'' in Table V-2,
would require reporting only for establishment with 20 or more
employees. This option would require reporting by 223,592
establishments.
    Note that the D&B estimate for the number of establishments with 20
or more employees is close to OSHA's estimate of establishments with 20
or more employees. The reason the number differs from the 440,000
establishments with 20 or more employees used elsewhere in the PEA is
that the D&B estimate is only for establishments that have 20 or more
employees and are part of a larger enterprise with five or more
establishments subject to recordkeeping requirements.
    For all three options, OSHA has assumed that the number of
enterprises that would need to provide enterprise-wide reports is
28,127, as noted in Footnote 1 in Table V-2, below. This assumption is
necessary because the data OSHA received from Dun and Bradstreet only
provided information on the total number of enterprises with five or
more establishments required to keep records and on the total number of
establishments controlled by these enterprises that had either eleven
or more employees or twenty or more employees. OSHA did not receive
information on the numbers of enterprises that control only larger
establishments, such as establishments employing 11 or more employees
or establishments employing 20 or more employees. However, OSHA expects
that the number of enterprises with five or more establishments
employing 11 or more employees is smaller than 28,127 and that the
number of enterprises with five or more establishments employing 20 or
more employees is smaller still. As a result, OSHA's estimates of costs
for the second option (``Establishments with 11 or more'') and third
option (''Establishments with 20 or more'') are probably overestimates.
    OSHA estimates that:
    (1) Each establishment will need 10 minutes to transmit its OSHA
records to its parent enterprise. The Agency would not require these
establishments to transmit their records electronically to the parent
enterprise. They would also be allowed to use the mail, telephone, or
fax. Note that establishments in the affected NAICS codes are already
complying with Part 1904 recordkeeping requirements. Thus, the
enterprise-wide reporting requirement would only change their
recordkeeping procedures by requiring them to transmit their OSHA log
once a year to their parent enterprise, instead of to OSHA.
    (2) the parent enterprise will need 10 minutes per establishment to
collate, review, and, if necessary, convert to electronic format the
records from each of their affected establishments.
    (3) the parent enterprise will need an additional 10 minutes for
the required electronic transmittal of the records to OSHA.
    For the purposes of this analysis, OSHA has assumed that no parent
enterprise currently consolidates and reviews injury and illness
records from establishments it controls. This assumption probably
results in a significant overestimate of the costs.
    Given the scope alternatives and the estimates outlined above, the
costs for each alternative are shown in Table V-2. The highest-cost
option is the first option, ``Establishments with 1 or more''. The
yearly costs for this alternative, in addition to those already in the
NPRM, are a total of $6,688,924.
    These costs are calculated by subtracting the number of
establishments with reporting costs already included elsewhere in the
PEA (223,592 establishments) from the total number of affected
establishments (584,662), resulting in a net of 361,070 establishments.
361,070 establishments multiplied by 10 minutes (1/6 of an hour) of
reporting time per establishment multiplied by a wage rate of $40.04
per hour [361,070 x 1/6 x $40.04] produces a cost of $2,409,540.
    The wage rate of $40.04 is used because OSHA assumes that a Human
Resources Specialist will do the establishment transmittal and the
enterprise review and transmittal. In the main cost analysis of the
PEA, OSHA noted that in some establishments a bookkeeper might do this
sort of work, and in others a health and safety specialist might do it.
OSHA welcomes

comments on the occupations that would send and receive records at the
establishment and enterprise level, and the hourly wage rate for those
occupations.
    There are also the additional costs of enterprise-level review and
submittal of the data to OSHA; the enterprise review cost is calculated
by 584,662 establishments multiplied by 10 minutes per establishment
multiplied by $40.04 per hour. This produces a cost of $3,901,644. The
cost of enterprise transmittal to OSHA is $187,700 (28,127 enterprises
multiplied by 10 minutes per enterprise multiplied by $40.04 per hour).
    Finally, in the PEA, OSHA recognizes that a very small percent (1.6
percent) of establishments do not currently comply with OSHA
regulations by certifying and reviewing their OSHA records. While the
rate of non-compliance may be lower among establishments that are part
of large, multi-establishment enterprises, OSHA has used the same 1.6-
percent estimate of non-compliance at the establishment level in this
analysis. As in the PEA, a wage plus benefit rate of $65.79 per hour,
for an Industrial Production Manager, is used to determine the cost of
certification for those establishments not in compliance. That final
additional cost is reported in the last row of Table V-2.
    Following the same calculation process, for the second option,
``Establishments with 11 or more'', there are almost 300,000 fewer
establishments, and the additional cost would be roughly $4 million
less, or $2,620,851.
    For the third option, ``Establishments with 20 or more'', all of
the establishments with 20 or more employees would already be required
to report to OSHA in this NPRM, regardless of the enterprise-wide
reporting requirement. Under the enterprise-wide reporting requirement,
these establishments would instead report to their parent enterprise,
and the only cost incurred would be to that parent enterprise,
including the cost of enterprise review and submission.

        Table V-2--Additional Costs for Corporate Reporting, Enterprises With Five or More Establishments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Establishments with   Establishments with   Establishments with
                                                 1 or more: Provide    11 or more: Provide   20 or more: Provide
                                                   enterprise-wide       enterprise-wide       enterprise-wide
                                                report including all  report including all  report including all
                                                 establishments with   establishments with   establishments with
                                                 1 or more employees  11 or more employees  20 or more employees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Establishments......................               584,662               291,425               223,592
Baseline (Number of Establishments Already in                223,592               223,592               223,592
 the PEA).....................................
Net Number of Establishments Newly Required to               361,070                67,833                     0
 Report.......................................
Number of Enterprises \1\.....................                28,127                28,127                28,127
Establishment Reporting and Review Cost \2\...            $2,409,540              $452,672                \3\ $0
Enterprise Review Cost \4\....................            $3,901,644            $1,944,776            $1,492,104
Enterprise Electronic Reporting Cost \5\......              $187,700              $187,700              $187,700
Recordkeeping Certification Cost (for                       $190,038               $35,702                    $0
 establishments that should currently certify
 but do not)..................................
                                               -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Incremental Cost of Corporate                   $6,688,924            $2,620,851            $1,679,804
     Reporting................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Number of enterprises is constant across size categories, per D&B data.
\2\ Estimated time requirements for establishments: 10 minutes to transmit to the enterprise.
\3\ For the ``Establishments with 20 or more'' option, those establishments already incurred review,
  digitization, and transmittal costs in the PEA.
\4\ Estimated time requirements for enterprises: 10 minutes to collate, review, and digitize per establishment
  reporting.
\5\ 10 minutes to transmit to OSHA at the enterprise level.

2. Benefits of Alternative I--Enterprise-Wide Submission
    As stated in the PEA, OSHA believes that the submission of
establishment injury and illness data to the controlling enterprise
will have benefits by improving the ability of OSHA to identify,
target, and remove safety and health hazards by targeting enterprises
as well as establishments. In addition, OSHA believes that the
submission of data from establishments to their parent enterprises will
improve the quality of the information available and lead to increased
worker safety.
    The resources that reduce workplace injuries and illnesses most
effectively are found at the establishment and enterprise level.
Submission of establishment data to the enterprise will improve
communication and reporting between establishments and enterprises.
This will alert enterprise managers to safety and health hazards,
allowing safety and health resources within the enterprise to be
reallocated in a more efficient manner, improving the enterprise's
ability to solve establishment safety and health problems.
    As noted above, many injuries and fatalities can be prevented at
minimal cost. For example, the costs of greater use of already-
purchased personal protective equipment are minimal. In terms of
workplace fatalities, Option 1 ``Establishments with 1 or more'', with
an incremental cost of $6.7 million, would have a net beneficial effect
if it averted one additional workplace fatality every year (relative to
the rule as proposed). In terms of workplace injuries, Option 1 would
have a net beneficial effect if it reduced the number of injuries by an
additional 110 per year (or one injury for every 255 enterprises
required to participate in corporate reporting). This would represent
approximately a 0.00003 percent reduction in the 3 million recordable
private-sector injuries each year. Even if the costs of averting
fatalities or injuries were 75 percent of the benefits, the proposed
alternative would have benefits exceeding the costs if it prevented
four additional fatalities or 0.00012% fewer injuries\5\. Obviously,
Option 2 (``Establishments with 11 or more'') and Option 3
(``Establishments with 20 or more'') would have even smaller
incremental costs. They would therefore have a net beneficial effect
with only very small additional numbers of fatalities averted or
injuries

prevented (relative to the rule as proposed). Option 2
(``Establishments with 11 or more'') would have a net beneficial effect
if it averted one additional occupational fatality every 3.3 years, or
reduced the number of occupational injuries by an additional 43 per
year (or one injury for every 650 enterprises required to participate
in enterprise-wide reporting). If the costs of preventing a fatality
were 75 percent of the benefits, the benefits would exceed the costs
even if just one fatality every nine months were prevented. Option 3
(``Establishments with 20 or more'') would have a net beneficial effect
if it averted one additional fatality every 4.5 years, or reduced the
number of injuries by an additional 28 per year (or one injury for
every 1,000 enterprises required to participate in enterprise-wide
reporting). If the costs of preventing an injury were 75 percent of the
benefits, the benefits would still exceed the costs if just 112
injuries per year (or one injury per every 250 enterprises) were
prevented by participation in enterprise-wide reporting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ These calculations are based on a VSL of $8.7 million and an
average cost per workplace injury or illness of $60,000 (Viscusi and
Aldy (2003)). In the Option 1 example, one fatality valued at $8.7
million is approximately 25 percent more than the annual cost of
Option 1. The logic is precisely the same for injuries prevented. To
arrive at a break-even point of 110 injuries prevented, divide the
annual cost of $6.6 million by $60,000 per injury.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OSHA welcomes public comment on Alternative I.

e. Economic Feasibility

    OSHA preliminarily concludes that the proposed rule will be
economically feasible. For the quarterly reporting requirement,
affecting establishments with 250 or more employees, the average cost
per affected establishment will be $183 per year. For the annual
reporting requirement, affecting establishments with 20 or more
employees in designated industries, the average cost per affected
establishment will be $9.40 per year. These costs will not affect the
economic viability of these establishments.

f. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    The part of the proposed rule requiring quarterly reporting for
establishments with 250 or more employees will affect some small firms,
according to the definition of small firm used by the Small Business
Administration (SBA). In some sectors, such as construction, where
SBA's definition only allows relatively smaller firms, there are
unlikely to be any firms with 250 or more employees that meet SBA
small-business definitions. In other sectors, such as manufacturing, a
small minority of SBA-defined small businesses will be subject to this
rule. Thus, this part of the proposed rule will affect only a small
percentage of all small firms. However, because some small firms will
be affected, especially in manufacturing, OSHA has examined the impacts
on small businesses of the costs of this rule. OSHA's procedures for
assessing the significance of proposed rules on small businesses
suggest that costs greater than 1% of revenues or 5% of profits may
result in a significant impact on a substantial number of small
businesses. To meet this level of significance at an estimated annual
average cost of $183 per affected establishment per year, annual
revenues for an establishment with 250 or more employees would have to
be less than $18,300, and annual profits would have to be less than
$3,660. These are extremely unlikely combinations of revenue and
profits for firms of this size and would only occur for a very small
number of firms in severe financial distress.
    The part of the proposed rule requiring annual electronic
submission of data from establishments with 20 or more employees in
designated industries will also affect some small firms. As stated
above, costs greater than 1% of revenues or 5% of profits may result in
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
businesses. To meet this level of significance at an estimated annual
average cost of $9.40 per affected establishment per year, annual
revenues for an establishment with 20 or more employees would have to
be less than $900, and annual profits would have to be less than $180.
These are extremely unlikely combinations of revenue and profits for
establishments of this size.
    As a result of these considerations, per Sec.  605 of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, OSHA proposes to certify that this proposed
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Thus, OSHA has not prepared an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis. OSHA is interested in comments on this
certification.

VI. OMB Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This proposed rule would revise an existing collection of
information, as defined and covered by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations.
    Docket exhibit OSHA 2013-0023-0001 shows examples of user
interfaces for the current electronic reporting system associated with
the ODI and an expanded interface to collect case-specific data. OSHA
currently expects that the user interfaces for the electronic reporting
system proposed by this rule would be similar to these user interfaces.
Screen shots of this interface can also be viewed on OSHA's Web site at
http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/proposed_data_form.html. OSHA
invites public comment on these user interfaces, including suggestions
on any interface features that would minimize the burden of reporting
the required data.
    Under Control Number 1218-0176, OSHA currently has OMB approval,
under the PRA, to conduct an information collection that requires
employers to maintain information on work-related fatalities, injuries,
and illnesses, and to submit this information to OSHA. The proposed
rule would also have these requirements.
    The proposed rule would amend 29 CFR 1904.41 to add three new
electronic reporting requirements for injury and illness information
employers are already required to keep under 29 CFR Part 1904. First,
OSHA would require establishments that are required to keep injury and
illness records under Part 1904, and that had 250 or more employees in
the previous year, to submit information from these records to OSHA or
OSHA's designee, electronically, on a quarterly basis. Second, OSHA
would require establishments that are required to keep injury and
illness records under Part 1904, had 20 or more employees in the
previous year, and are in certain designated industries to
electronically submit the information from the OSHA annual summary form
(Form 300A) to OSHA or OSHA's designee on an annual basis. The second
submission requirement would replace OSHA's annual illness and injury
survey, authorized by the current version of 29 CFR 1904.41. Third,
OSHA would require all employers who receive notification from OSHA to
electronically submit specified information from their injury and
illness records to OSHA or OSHA's designee.
    In accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), OSHA prepared and submitted a
revised Information Collection Request (ICR) for this proposed
regulation to OMB for review. OSHA solicits comments on the proposed
revised collection of information requirements and the estimated burden
hours associated with these requirements, including comments on the
following items:
    (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of OSHA's functions, including whether the
information has practical utility;
    (b) the accuracy of OSHA's burden estimate (time and cost);
    (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected;
    (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
employers, including the use of

automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology, and
    (e) ways to further reduce the information collection burden on
small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
    As required by 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv) and 1320.8(d)(2), the
following paragraphs provide information about this ICR.
    1. Title: 29 CFR Part 1904 Recordkeeping and Reporting Occupational
Injuries and Illnesses
    2. Number of respondents: OSHA proposes to require establishments
that are required to keep injury and illness records under Part 1904,
and that had 250 or more employees in the previous year, to submit
information from these records to OSHA or OSHA's designee,
electronically, on a quarterly basis. There are approximately 38,000
establishments that will be subject to this requirement and that will
submit detailed case characteristic data on approximately 900,000
occupational injuries and illnesses per year. OSHA also proposes to
require establishments that are required to keep injury and illness
records under Part 1904, had 20 or more employees in the previous year,
and are in certain designated industries to electronically submit the
information from the OSHA annual summary form (Form 300A) to OSHA or
OSHA's designee on an annual basis. There are approximately 440,000
establishments that will be subject to this requirement. Finally, OSHA
proposes to require all employers who receive notification from OSHA to
electronically submit specified information from their injury and
illness records to OSHA or OSHA's designee. This requirement will only
incur a paperwork burden when the agency implements a notice of
collection. For each new data collection conducted under this proposed
provision, the Agency will request OMB approval under separate PRA
control numbers. OSHA currently uses this process for the ODI data
collection conducted under the current Sec.  1904.41, which OMB
currently approves under Control Number 1218-0209. The total number of
respondents to all requirements under Part 1904 is 1,665,374.
    3. Frequency of responses: Quarterly; Annually; On occasion.
    4. Number of responses: 1,369,245.
    5. Average time per response: Time per response varies from 10
minutes for establishments reporting only under 1904.41(a)(2), to
multiple hours for large establishments with many recordable injuries
and illnesses reporting under 1904.41(a)(1). The average time of
response per establishment is 29 minutes.
    6. Estimated total burden hours: The proposed change will add an
additional 228,664 hours of burden to the recordkeeping rule (Part
1904) and bring the total burden for the entire rule to 3,195,901
hours.
    7. Estimated costs (capital-operation and maintenance): There are
no capital costs for the proposed information collection.
    Members of the public may comment on the paperwork requirements in
this proposed regulation by sending their written comments to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer
for the Department of Labor, OSHA (Regulation Identifier Number (RIN)
1218-AC50), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC
20503; telephone:<PHONE_NUMBER>; fax:<PHONE_NUMBER> (these are not toll-
free numbers); email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please limit the
comments to only the proposed changed provisions of the recordkeeping
rule (i.e. proposed Sec.  1904.41).
    OSHA encourages commenters also to submit their comments on these
paperwork requirements to the rulemaking docket (OSHA-2013-0023), along
with their comments on other parts of the proposed regulation. For
instructions on submitting these comments to the docket, see the
sections of this Federal Register notice titled DATES and ADDRESSES.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice are public records;
therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about submitting personal
information such as Social Security numbers and dates of birth. To
access the docket to read or download comments and other materials
related to this paperwork determination, including the complete
information collection request (ICR), use the procedures described
under the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES. You may obtain an
electronic copy of the complete Information Collection Request (ICR) by
going to the Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, then
select ``Department of Labor'' under ``Currently Under Review'', then
click on ``submit''. This will show all of the Department's ICRs
currently under review, including the ICRs submitted for proposed
rulemakings. To make inquiries, or to request other information,
contact Mr. Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA,
Room N-3609, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20210; telephone<PHONE_NUMBER>; email
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>    OSHA notes that a federal agency cannot (1) conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless OMB approves it under the PRA, and the
information collection displays a currently-valid OMB control number,
and (2) require a party to respond to a collection of information
unless the collection of information displays a currently-valid OMB
control number. Also, notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
party shall be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a
collection of information if the collection of information does not
display a currently-valid OMB control number. OSHA will publish a
notice of OMB's action when it publishes the final regulation, or, if
not approved by then, when OMB authorizes the information collection
requirements under the PRA.

VII. Unfunded Mandates

    For purposes of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C.
1501 et seq.), as well as Executive Order 12875, this proposed rule
does not include any federal mandate that may result in increased
expenditures by state, local, and tribal governments, or increased
expenditures by the private sector of more than $100 million.

VIII. Federalism

    The proposed rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive
Order 13132 (64 FR 43255 (Aug. 4, 1999)), regarding federalism. Because
this rulemaking involves a ``regulation'' issued under Sections 8 and
24 of the OSH Act, and is not an ``occupational safety and health
standard'' issued under Sec.  6 of the OSH Act, the rule will not
preempt state law (29 U.S.C. 667(a)). The effect of the proposed rule
on states is discussed in section IX. State Plan States.

IX. State Plan States

    For the purposes of Sec.  18 of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C. 667) and the
requirements of 29 CFR 1904.37 and 1952.4, within 6 months after
publication of the final OSHA rule, state-plan states must promulgate
occupational injury and illness recording and reporting requirements
that are substantially identical to those in 29 CFR Part 1904
``Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.'' All
other injury and illness recording and reporting requirements (for
example, industry exemptions, reporting of fatalities and
hospitalizations, record retention, or employee involvement) that are
promulgated by state-plan states may be more stringent than, or
supplemental to,

the federal requirements, but, because of the unique nature of the
national recordkeeping program, states must consult with OSHA and
obtain approval of such additional or more stringent reporting and
recording requirements to ensure that they will not interfere with
uniform reporting objectives (29 CFR 1904.37(b)(2)), 29 CFR 1952.4(a)).
    There are 27 state plan states and territories. The states and
territories that cover private sector employers are Alaska, Arizona,
California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan,
Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and
Wyoming. Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and the Virgin
Islands have OSHA-approved state plans that apply to state and local
government employees only.

X. Public Participation

    Because this rulemaking involves a regulation rather than a
standard, it is governed by the notice and comment requirements in the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) rather than section 6
of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C. 655) and 29 CFR Part 1911 (both of which only
apply to ``promulgating, modifying or revoking occupational safety or
health standards'' (29 CFR 1911.1)). Therefore, the OSH Act requirement
to hold an informal public hearing (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(3)) on a proposed
rule, when requested, does not apply to this rulemaking.
    Section 553(b)(1) of the APA requires the agency to issue a
``statement of the time, place, and nature of public rulemaking
proceedings'' (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(1)). The APA does not specify a minimum
period for submitting comments.

a. Public Submissions

    OSHA invites comment on all aspects of the proposed rule. OSHA
specifically encourages comment on the questions raised in the issues
and questions subsection. Interested persons must submit comments by
February 6, 2014. The Agency will carefully review and evaluate all
comments, information, and data, as well as all other information in
the rulemaking record, to determine how to proceed.
    You may submit comments in response to this document (1)
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the federal e-
rulemaking portal; (2) by fax; or (3) by hard copy. All submissions
must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number (Docket No.
OSHA-2013-0023) or RIN (RIN No. 1218-AC49) for this rulemaking. You may
supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files
electronically. If, instead, you wish to mail additional materials in
reference to an electronic or fax submission, you must submit three
copies to the OSHA docket office (see ADDRESSES section). The
additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments by
name, date, and docket number, so that OSHA can attach them to your
comments.
    Because of security-related procedures, the use of regular mail may
cause a significant delay in the receipt of submissions. 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<PHONE_NUMBER> (TTY (877) 889-
5627).

b. Access to Docket

    Comments in response to this Federal Register notice are posted at
http://www.regulations.gov, the federal e-rulemaking portal. Therefore,
OSHA cautions individuals about submitting personal information such as
Social Security numbers and birthdates. Although 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 that Web site. All comments and exhibits, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA docket
office. Information on using http://www.regulations.gov to submit
comments and access dockets is available on that Web site. 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.
    Electronic copies of this Federal Register document are available
at http://www.regulations.gov. This document, as well as news releases
and other relevant information, also are available at OSHA's Web page
at http://www.osha.gov. For specific information about OSHA's
Recordkeeping rule, go the Recordkeeping page on OSHA's Web page.

Authority and Signature

    This document was prepared under the direction of David Michaels,
Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and
Health. It is issued under Sections 8 and 24 of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 657, 673), Section 553 of the Administrative
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 41-
2012 (77 FR 3912 (Jan. 25, 2012)).

List of Subjects

29 CFR Part 1904

    Health statistics, Occupational safety and health, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, State plans.

29 CFR Part 1952

    Health statistics, Intergovernmental relations, Occupational safety
and health, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, State plans.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on October 31, 2013.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

Amendments to Standards

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, OSHA proposes to amend
parts 1904 and 1952 of Chapter XVII of Title 29 as follows:

PART 1904--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 1904 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 29 U.S.C. 657, 658, 660, 666, 669, 673, Secretary of
Labor's Order No. 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), and 5 U.S.C. 533.

Subpart E--Reporting Fatality, Injury and Illness Information to
the Government

0
2. Add an authority citation to Subpart E of 29 CFR part 1904 to read
as follows:

    Authority: Sections 8 and 24 of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act (29 U.S.C. 657, 673), 5 U.S.C. 553, and Secretary of
Labor's Order 1-2012 (77 FR 3912, Jan. 25, 2012).

0
3. Revise Sec.  1904.41 to read as follows:

Sec.  1904.41  Electronic submission of injury and illness records to
OSHA.

    (a) Basic requirements--(1) Quarterly electronic submission of Part
1904 records by establishments with 250 or more employees. If your
establishment is required to keep records under Part 1904 and had 250
or more employees (including full-time, part-time, temporary, and
seasonal workers) at any time during the previous calendar year, you
must electronically send to OSHA or OSHA's designee, on a quarterly
basis, all of the information from the records that you keep under Part
1904.
    (i) The data for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities recorded
during the period of January through March must be submitted no later
than April 30.
    (ii) The data for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities recorded
during the period

of April through June must be submitted no later than July 31.
    (iii) The data for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities recorded
during the period of July through September must be submitted no later
than October 31.
    (iv) The data for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities recorded
during the period of October through December must be submitted no
later than January 31.
    (v) The summary data from OSHA Form 300A must be submitted no later
than March 2 of the year after the calendar year covered by the form.
    (2) Annual electronic submission of OSHA annual summary form (Form
300A) by establishments with 20 or more employees in designated
industries. If your establishment had 20 or more employees (including
full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers) at any time
during the previous calendar year, and is classified in any of the
industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart E of Part 1904, you must
electronically send to OSHA or OSHA's designee, once a year, the
information from your completed annual summary form (Form 300A). The
information must be submitted no later than March 2 of the year after
the calendar year covered by the form.
    (3) Electronic submission of Part 1904 records upon notification.
Upon notification, you must electronically send to OSHA or OSHA's
designee the requested information, at the specified time interval,
from the records that you keep under Part 1904.
    (b) Implementation--(1) Does every employer have to send data to
OSHA? No, in any given year, some employers will have to send data to
OSHA, and some employers will not. If your establishment is required to
keep records under Part 1904 and had 250 or more employees in the
previous calendar year, you must submit all of your Part 1904 data to
OSHA on a quarterly basis, without notification from OSHA. Also, if
your establishment is classified in any of the industries listed in
Appendix A to Subpart E of Part 1904 and had 20 or more employees in
the previous calendar year, you must submit the information from the
annual summary form (Form 300A) to OSHA once a year, without
notification from OSHA. This information must be submitted no later
than March 2 of the year after the calendar year covered by the form
(for example, no later than March 2, 2012, for the 2011 annual summary
form). Otherwise, you must only submit injury and illness data to OSHA
if you are notified to do so for an individual data collection.
    (2) How will I be notified that I have to submit the data?
Employers required to submit data on a quarterly basis (that is,
employers that are required to keep records under Part 1904 and had 250
or more employees in the previous calendar year) will not be notified.
Employers required to submit data once a year (that is, employers, in
designated industries, that had 20 or more employees in the previous
calendar year) will also not be notified. Employers required to submit
data as part of an individual data collection will be notified by mail.
OSHA will also announce individual data collections through publication
in the Federal Register and the OSHA newsletter, and announcements on
the OSHA Web site.
    (3) How often do I have to submit the data? Establishments that are
required to keep records under Part 1904 and had 250 or more employees
in the previous calendar year must submit their Form 300 and Form 301
data on a quarterly basis and their annual summary data, from Form
300A, on an annual basis. Establishments that are in designated
industries and had 20 or more employees in the previous calendar year
must submit their Form 300A data once a year. Establishments that
receive a notification for an individual data collection must submit
their data according to the frequency specified in the notification.
    (4) How do I submit the data? Establishments must submit their data
electronically. OSHA will provide a secure Web site for the electronic
submission of data. For individual data collections, OSHA will include
the Web site's location in the notification for the data collection.
The Web site will allow for both direct data entry and submission of
data through a batch file upload, as appropriate.
    (5) Do I have to submit data if I am normally exempt from keeping
OSHA injury and illness records? If you are exempt from keeping injury
and illness records under Sec.  1904.1 and/or Sec.  1904.2 of this
part, you will have to submit data only if OSHA informs you in writing
that it will collect injury and illness information from you. If you
receive such a notification, you must keep the injury and illness
records required by Part 1904 and submit data as directed.
    (6) Do I have to submit data if I am located in a State-Plan State?
The requirements for submitting data apply to all employers, including
employers in State-Plan States.
0
4. Add Appendix A to Subpart E of Part 1904 to read as follows:

Appendix A to Subpart E of Part 1904--Designated Industries for Annual
Electronic Submission of OSHA Annual Summary Form (Form 300A) by
Establishments With 20 or More Employees in Designated Industries

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 NAICS                               Industry
------------------------------------------------------------------------
11.....................................  Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing
                                          and Hunting.
22.....................................  Utilities.
23.....................................  Construction.
31-33..................................  Manufacturing.
42.....................................  Wholesale Trade.
4413...................................  Automotive Parts, Accessories,
                                          and Tire Stores.
4421...................................  Furniture Stores.
4422...................................  Home Furnishings Stores.
4441...................................  Building Material and Supplies
                                          Dealers.
4442...................................  Lawn and Garden Equipment and
                                          Supplies Stores.
4451...................................  Grocery Stores.
4521...................................  Department Stores.
4529...................................  Other General Merchandise
                                          Stores.
4533...................................  Used Merchandise Stores.
4543...................................  Direct Selling Establishments.
4811...................................  Scheduled Air Transportation.
4832...................................  Inland Water Transportation.
4841...................................  General Freight Trucking.
4842...................................  Specialized Freight Trucking.
4855...................................  Charter Bus Industry.
4871...................................  Scenic and Sightseeing
                                          Transportation, Land.

4872...................................  Scenic and Sightseeing
                                          Transportation, Water.
4881...................................  Support Activities for Air
                                          Transportation.
4882...................................  Support Activities for Rail
                                          Transportation.
4883...................................  Support Activities for Water
                                          Transportation.
4884...................................  Support Activities for Road
                                          Transportation.
4889...................................  Other Support Activities for
                                          Transportation.
4921...................................  Couriers.
4922...................................  Local Messengers and Local
                                          Delivery.
4931...................................  Warehousing and Storage.
5152...................................  Cable and Other Subscription
                                          Programming.
5311...................................  Lessors of Real Estate.
5321...................................  Automotive Equipment Rental and
                                          Leasing.
5322...................................  Consumer Goods Rental.
5323...................................  General Rental Centers.
5617...................................  Services to Buildings and
                                          Dwellings.
5621...................................  Waste Collection.
5622...................................  Waste Treatment and Disposal.
5629...................................  Remediation and Other Waste
                                          Management Services.
6216...................................  Home Health Care Services.
6221...................................  General Medical and Surgical
                                          Hospitals.
6222...................................  Psychiatric and Substance Abuse
                                          Hospitals.
6223...................................  Specialty (except Psychiatric
                                          and Substance Abuse)
                                          Hospitals.
6231...................................  Nursing Care Facilities.
6232...................................  Residential Mental Retardation,
                                          Mental Health and Substance
                                          Abuse Facilities.
6233...................................  Community Care Facilities for
                                          the Elderly.
6239...................................  Other Residential Care
                                          Facilities.
6243...................................  Vocational Rehabilitation
                                          Services.
7112...................................  Spectator Sports.
7131...................................  Amusement Parks and Arcades.
7132...................................  Gambling Industries.
7211...................................  Traveler Accommodation.
8113...................................  Commercial and Industrial
                                          Machinery and Equipment
                                          (except Automotive and
                                          Electronic) Repair and
                                          Maintenance.
8123...................................  Drycleaning and Laundry
                                          Services.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 1952--[AMENDED]

0
4. The authority citation for part 1952 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: Sec. 18, 84 Stat. 1608 (29 U.S.C. 667); 29 CFR part
1902; Secretary of Labor's Order 1-2012 (77 FR 3912, Jan. 25, 2012).

0
5. In Sec.  1952.4, revise paragraph (d) to read as follows:

Sec.  1952.4  Injury and illness recording and reporting requirements.

* * * * *
    (d) As provided in section 18(c)(7) of the Act, State-Plan States
must adopt requirements identical to those in 29 CFR 1904.41 in their
recordkeeping and reporting regulations as enforceable State
requirements. The data collected by OSHA as authorized by Sec.  1904.41
will be made available to the State Plan States. Nothing in any State
plan shall affect the duties of employers to comply with Sec.  1904.41.

[FR Doc. 2013-26711 Filed 11-7-13; 8:45 am]
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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 76058]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30588]

=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Notice of Extension of Comment Period for Draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) for the Proposed Part 139 Operating Certificate and
Related Actions and Notice for Public Hearing at Paulding Northwest
Atlanta Airport

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FAA is extending the comment period for the Draft
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Part 139 Operating
Certificate and Related Actions. In response to community requests, FAA
is extending the comment period for 30 days, from December 11, 2015, to
January 10, 2016.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed Draft EA made available for
public review on October 20, 2015 is extended. Comments on the document
must be received on or before January 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Any person desiring to review the Draft EA and to comment on
the document may do so at the following locations: Paulding Northwest
Atlanta Airport, 730 Airport Parkway, Dallas, Georgia 30157 or Paulding
County Library, 1010 Memorial Drive East, Dallas, Georgia 30132.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Favors, Environmental Program
Manager, Atlanta Airports District Office, 1701 Columbia Ave., Suite
220, Atlanta, GA 30337-2747,<PHONE_NUMBER><EMAIL_ADDRESS>
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA is hereby extending the comment
period for the following notice to allow the community more time to
develop and submit their comments.
    In the notice that issued in the Federal Register on October 22,
2015, entitled ``Notice of Availability for Draft EA for the Proposed
Part 139 Operating Certificate and Related Actions and Notice for
Public Hearing at Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport'', the FAA sought
public comment on the Draft EA. The end of the comment period is hereby
being extended from December 11, 2015 to January 10, 2016.
    Comments can also be made online via the following Web sites:

Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport: www.pauldingairport.com
Paulding County, Georgia: www.paulding.gov

    Issued in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 24, 2015.
Larry F. Clark,
Manager, Atlanta Airports District Office, Southern Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-30588 Filed 12-4-15; 8:45 am]
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