29 cfr 1960 - assistant secretary of the army · december 29, 1989. (j) in accordance with 29 cfr...

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29 CFR Ch. XVII (7–1–96 Edition)§ 1956.54

health standards, which were approvedby the Assistant Secretary on Decem-ber 29, 1989.

(i) In accordance with 29 CFR1956.51(k) the State has adopted theFederal Industrial Hygiene Manual, in-cluding changes one (1) and two (2),through April 7, 1987, which was ap-proved by the Assistant Secretary onDecember 29, 1989.

(j) In accordance with 29 CFR1956.51(l) the State issued a directiveimplementing an on-site consultationprogram in the public sector which wasapproved by the Assistant Secretary onDecember 29, 1989.

[50 FR 21047, May 22, 1985, as amended at 52FR 20073, May 29, 1987; 55 FR 1206, Jan. 12,1990]

§ 1956.53 Determination of operationaleffectiveness. [Reserved]

§ 1956.54 Location of plan for inspec-tion and copying.

A copy of the plan may be inspectedand copied during normal businesshours at the following locations: Officeof State Programs, U.S. Department ofLabor, Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration, Third Street and Con-stitution Avenue, NW., Room N–3476,Washington, DC 20210; Office of the Re-gional Administrator, U.S. Departmentof Labor, Occupational Safety andHealth Administration, 1515 Broadway(1 Astor Plaza) Room 3445, New York,New York 10036; State of New York De-partment of Labor, State Office Build-ing Campus, Building 12, Room 579, Al-bany, New York 12226; Division of Oc-cupational Safety and Health, State ofNew York Department of Labor, Room6994, 2 World Trade Center, New York,New York 10047.

§ 1956.55 Changes to approved plans.In accordance with part 1953, the fol-

lowing New York plan changes were ap-proved by the Assistant Secretary:

(a) The State submitted a staffingpattern change involving the reassign-ment of two positions from IndustrialHygiene Consultation to Industrial Hy-giene Enforcement. The Assistant Sec-retary approved the supplement onMay 26, 1987.

(b) The State submitted a staffingpattern change which establishes an

Analysis and Management InformationSystem Unit. The Assistant Secretaryapproved the supplement on December29, 1989.

[52 FR 20073, May 29, 1987, as amended at 55FR 1206, Jan. 12, 1990]

PART 1960—BASIC PROGRAM ELE-MENTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEEOCCUPATIONAL SAFETY ANDHEALTH PROGRAMS AND RELAT-ED MATTERS

Subpart A—General

Sec.1960.1 Purpose and scope.1960.2 Definitions.

Subpart B—Administration

1960.6 Designation of agency safety andhealth officials.

1960.7 Financial management.1960.8 Agency responsibilities.1960.9 Supervisory responsibilities.1960.10 Employee responsibilities and

rights.1960.11 Evaluation of occupational safety

and health performance.1960.12 Dissemination of occupational safe-

ty and health program information.

Subpart C—Standards

1960.16 Compliance with OSHA standards.1960.17 Alternate standards.1960.18 Supplementary standards.1960.19 Other Federal agency standards af-

fecting occupational safety and health.

Subpart D—Inspection and Abatement

1960.25 Qualifications of safety and healthinspectors and agency inspections.

1960.26 Conduct of inspections.1960.27 Representatives of officials in charge

and representatives of employees.1960.28 Employee reports of unsafe or

unhealthful working conditions.1960.29 Accident investigation.1960.30 Abatement of unsafe or unhealthful

working conditions.1960.31 Inspections by OSHA.

Subpart E—General Services Administra-tion and Other Federal Agencies

1960.34 General provisions.1960.35 National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health.

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Occupational Safety and Health Admin., Labor § 1960.1

Subpart F—Occupational Safety andHealth Committees

1960.36 General provisions.1960.37 Committee organization.1960.38 Committee formation.1960.39 Agency responsibilities.1960.40 Establishment committee duties.1960.41 National committee duties.

Subpart G—Allegations of Reprisal

1960.46 Agency responsibility.1960.47 Results of investigations.

Subpart H—Training

1960.54 Training of top management offi-cials.

1960.55 Training of supervisors.1960.56 Training of safety and health spe-

cialists.1960.57 Training of safety and health inspec-

tors.1960.58 Training of collateral duty safety

and health personnel and committeemembers.

1960.59 Training of employees and employeerepresentatives.

1960.60 Training assistance.

Subpart I—Recordkeeping and ReportingRequirements

1960.66 Purpose, scope and general provi-sions.

1960.67 Log of occupational injuries and ill-nesses.

1960.68 Supplementary record of occupa-tional injuries and illnesses.

1960.69 Annual summaries of Federal occu-pational injuries and illnesses.

1960.70 Reporting of serious accidents.1960.71 Location and utilization of records

and reports.1960.72 Access to records by Secretary.1960.73 Retention of records.1960.74 Agency annual reports.1960.75—1960.77 [Reserved]

Subpart J—Evaulation of FederalOccupational Safety and Health Programs

1960.78 Purpose and scope.1960.79 Self-evaluations of occupational

safety and health programs.1960.80 Secretary’s evaluations of agency

occupational safety and health programs.

Subpart K—Field Federal Safety and HealthCouncils

1960.84 Purpose.1960.85 Role of the Secretary.1960.86 Establishing councils.1960.87 Objectives.1960.88 Membership and participation.

1960.89 Organization.1960.90 Operating procedures.

AUTHORITY: Sections 19 and 24 of the Occu-pational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84Stat. 1609, 1614; 29 U.S.C. 668, 673), 5 U.S.C.553, Secretary of Labor’s Order No. 1–90 (55FR 9033), and Executive Order 12196.

SOURCE: 45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980, unlessotherwise noted.

Subpart A—General§ 1960.1 Purpose and scope.

(a) Section 19 of the OccupationalSafety and Health Act (the Act) con-tains special provisions to assure safeand healthful working conditions forFederal employees. Under that section,it is the responsibility of the head ofeach Federal agency to establish andmaintain an effective and comprehen-sive occupational safety and healthprogram which is consistent with thestandards promulgated under section 6of the Act. The Secretary of Labor (theSecretary), under section 19, is to re-port to the President certain evalua-tions and recommendations with re-spect to the programs of the variousagencies, and the duties which section24 of the Act imposes on the Secretaryof Labor necessarily extend to the col-lection, compilation and analysis of oc-cupational safety and health statisticsfrom the Federal Government. The roleof the General Services Administrationin this area stems from its duties asthe Government’s principal landlordand from its specific safety and healthresponsibilities under 41 CFR part 101,subchapter D, Federal Property Man-agement Regulations.

(b) Executive Order 12196, Occupa-tional Safety and Health Programs forFederal Employees, issued February 26,1980, prescribes additional responsibil-ities for the heads of agencies, the Sec-retary, and the General Services Ad-ministrator. Among other duties, theSecretary is required to issue basicprogram elements in accordance withwhich the heads of agencies shall oper-ate their safety and health programs.The purpose of this part is to issuethese basic program elements. Al-though agency heads are required tooperate a program in accordance withthe basic program elements, those ele-ments contain numerous provisions

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which, by their terms, permit agencyheads the flexibility necessary to im-plement their programs in a mannerconsistent with their respective mis-sions, sizes, and organizations. More-over, an agency head, after consulta-tion with agency employees or theirrepresentatives and with appropriatesafety and health committees may re-quest the Secretary to consider ap-proval of alternate program elements;the Secretary, after consultation withthe Federal Advisory Council on Occu-pational Safety and Health, may ap-prove such alternate program ele-ments.

(c) Under Executive Order 12196, theSecretary is required to perform var-ious services for the agencies, includ-ing consultation, training, record-keeping, inspections, and evaluations.Agencies are encouraged to seek suchassistance from the Secretary as wellas advice on how to comply with thebasic program elements and operate ef-fective occupational safety and healthprograms. Upon the request of anAgency, the Office of Federal AgencySafety and Health Programs will re-view proposed agency plans for the im-plementation of program elements.

(d) Section 19 of the Act and the Ex-ecutive Order require specific opportu-nities for employee participation in theoperation of agency safety and healthprograms. The manner of fulfillingthese requirements is set forth in partin these program elements. These re-quirements are separate from but con-sistent with the Federal Service LaborManagement Relations Statute (5U.S.C. 71) and regulations dealing withlabor-management relations within theFederal Government.

(e) Executive Order 12196 and thesebasic program elements apply to allagencies of the Executive Branch. Theyapply to all Federal employees. Theyapply to all working conditions of Fed-eral employees except those involvinguniquely military equipment, systems,and operations.

(f) No provision of the ExecutiveOrder or this part shall be construed inany manner to relieve any private em-ployer, including Federal contractors,or their employees of any rights or re-sponsibilities under the provisions ofthe Act, including compliance activi-

ties conducted by the Department ofLabor or other appropriate authority.

(g) Federal employees who work inestablishments of private employersare covered by their agencies’ occupa-tional safety and health programs. Al-though an agency may not have the au-thority to require abatement of hazard-ous conditions in a private sectorworkplace, the agency head must as-sure safe and healthful working condi-tions for his/her employees. This shallbe accomplished by administrativecontrols, personal protective equip-ment, or withdrawal of Federal em-ployees from the private sector facilityto the extent necessary to assure thatthe employees are protected.

[45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980, as amended at 60FR 34852, July 5, 1995]

§ 1960.2 Definitions.(a) The term Act means the Occupa-

tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84Stat. 1590 et seq., 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

(b) The term agency for the purposesof this part means an Executive De-partment, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101, orany employing unit or authority of theExecutive Branch of the Government.For the purposes of this part to the ex-tent it implements section 19 of theAct, the term agency includes the Unit-ed States Postal Service. By agreementbetween the Secretary of Labor and thehead of an agency of the Legislative orJudicial Branches of the Government,these regulations may be applicable tosuch agencies.

(c) The term agency liaison means anagency person appointed with full au-thority and reponsibility to representthe occupant agency management withthe official in charge of a facility or in-stallation such as a GSA Building Man-ager.

(d) The term building manager meansthe person who manages one or severalbuildings under the authority of a Fed-eral agency. For example, a buildingmanager may be the GSA person whomanages building(s) for GSA.

(e) As used in Executive Order 12196,the term consultation with representa-tives of the employees thereof shall in-clude such consultation, conference, ornegotiation with representatives ofagency employees as is consistent withthe Federal Service Labor Management

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Relations Statute (5 U.S.C. 71), or col-lective bargaining or other labor-man-agement arrangements. As used in thispart, the term representative of employ-ees shall be interpreted with due regardfor any obligation imposed by theaforementioned statute and any otherlabor-management arrangement thatmay cover the employees involved.

(f) The term Designated Agency Safetyand Health Official means the individ-ual who is responsible for the manage-ment of the safety and health programwithin an agency, and is so designatedor appointed by the head of the agencypursuant to § 1960.6 and the provisionsof Executive Order 12196.

(g) The term employee as used in thispart means any person, other thanmembers of the Armed Forces, em-ployed or otherwise suffered, per-mitted, or required to work by an agen-cy as the latter term is defined in para-graph (b) of this section.

(h) The term establishment means asingle physical location where businessis conducted or where services or oper-ations are performed. Where distinctlyseparate activities are performed at asingle physical location, each activityshall be treated as a separate establish-ment. Typically, an establishment asused in this part refers to a field activ-ity, regional office, area office, instal-lation, or facility.

(i) The term uniquely military equip-ment, systems, and operations excludesfrom the scope of the order the designof Department of Defense equipmentand systems that are unique to the na-tional defense mission, such as mili-tary aircraft, ships, submarines, mis-siles, and missile sites, early warningsystems, military space systems, artil-lery, tanks, and tactical vehicles; andexcludes operations that are uniquelymilitary such as field maneuvers, navaloperations, military flight operations,associated research test and develop-ment activities, and actions requiredunder emergency conditions. The termincludes within the scope of the OrderDepartment of Defense workplaces andoperations comparable to those of in-dustry in the private sector such as:Vessel, aircraft, and vehicle repair,overhaul, and modification (except forequipment trials); construction; supplyservices; civil engineering or public

works; medical services; and officework.

(j) The term incidence rates means thenumber of injuries and illnesses, or lostworkdays, per 100 full-time workers.Rates are calculated as

N×200,000.

EH

N=number of injuries and illnesses, or num-ber of lost workdays.

EH=total hours worked by all employeesduring a month, a quarter, or fiscal year.

200,000=base for 100 full-time equivalentworkers (working 40 hours per week, 50weeks per year).

(k) The term inspection means a com-prehensive survey of all or part of aworkplace in order to detect safety andhealth hazards. Inspections are nor-mally performed during the regularwork hours of the agency, except asspecial circumstances may require. In-spections do not include routine, day-to-day visits by agency occupationalsafety and health personnel, or routineworkplace surveillance of occupationalhealth conditions.

(l) Categories of injuries/illnesses/fatali-ties—(1) Injury (Traumatic). A wound orother condition of the body caused byexternal force, including stress orstrain. The injury is identifiable as totime and place of occurrence and mem-ber or function of the body affected,and is caused by a specific event or in-cident or series of events or incidentswithin a single day or work shift.

(2) Illness/disease (occupational). Aphysiological harm or loss of capacityproduced by systemic infection; contin-ued or repeated stress or strain; expo-sure to toxins, poisons, fumes, etc.; orother continued and repeated exposuresto conditions of the work environmentover a long period of time. For prac-tical purposes, an occupational illness/disease is any reported condition whichdoes not meet the definition of injury(traumatic).

(3) Fatality. Death resulting from aninjury (traumatic) or illness/disease(occupational).

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(4) The term lost time case means anonfatal traumatic injury that causesany loss of time from work beyond theday or shift it occurred; or a nonfatalnontraumatic illness/disease thatcauses disability at any time.

(5) No-lost time case. A nonfatal injury(traumatic) or illness/disease (occupa-tional) that does not meet the defini-tion of Lost Time Case.

(6) Catastrophe. An accident resultingin five or more agency and/or non-agency people being hospitalized for in-patient care.

(m) The term representative of man-agement means a supervisor or manage-ment official as defined in the applica-ble labor-management relations pro-gram covering the affected employees.

(n)–(p) [Reserved](q) The term Safety and Health Inspec-

tor means a safety and/or occupationalhealth specialist or other person au-thorized pursuant to Executive Order12196, section 1–201(g), to carry out in-spections for the purpose of subpart Dof this part, a person having equipmentand competence to recognize safetyand/or health hazards in the workplace.

(r) The term Safety and Health Officialmeans an individual who manages theoccupational safety and/or occupa-tional health program at organiza-tional levels below the DesignatedAgency Safety and Health Official.

(s) The term Safety and Health Spe-cialist means a person or persons meet-ing the Office of Personnel Manage-ment standards for such occupations,which include but are not limited to:

Safety and Occupational Health Manager/Specialist GS–018

Safety Engineer GS–803Fire Prevention Engineer GS–804Industrial Hygienist GS–690Fire Protection and Prevention Specialist/

Marshal GS–081Health Physicist GS–1306Occupational Medicine Physician GS–602Occupational Health Nurse GS–610Safety Technician GS–019Physical Science Technician GS–1311Environmental Health Technician GS–699Air Safety Investigation Officer GS–1815Aviation Safety Specialist GS–1825Chemist GS–1320Health Technician GS–645Highway Safety Manager GS–2125

or equally qualified military, agency,or nongovernment personnel. The agen-

cy head shall be responsible for deter-mination and certification of equallyqualified personnel.

(t) The term workplace means a phys-ical location where the agency’s workor operations are performed.

(u) The term imminent danger meansany conditions or practices in anyworkplace which are such that a dan-ger exists which could reasonably beexpected to cause death or seriousphysical harm immediately or beforethe imminence of such danger can beeliminated through normal procedures.

(v) The word serious as used in serioushazard, serious violation or serious condi-tion means a hazard, violation or condi-tion such that there is a substantialprobability that death or serious phys-ical harm could result.

(w) The term certified safety andhealth committee means an agency safe-ty and health committee that meetsthe provisions of section 1–3 of Execu-tive Order 12196 and of this part, as list-ed and attested to by the head of eachagency in writing to the Secretary.

(x) The term reprisal as used in thispart means any act of restraint, inter-ference, coercion or discriminationagainst an employee for exercising hisor her rights under Executive Order12196 and this part, or for participatingin the agency’s safety and health pro-gram.

[45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980, as amended at 49FR 3078, Jan. 25, 1984; 50 FR 40269, Oct. 2, 1985;51 FR 28378, Aug. 7, 1986]

Subpart B—Administration§ 1960.6 Designation of agency safety

and health officials.(a) The head of each agency shall des-

ignate an official with sufficient au-thority and responsibility to representeffectively the interest and support ofthe agency head in the managementand administration of the agency occu-pational safety and health program.This Designated Agency Safety andHealth Official should be of the rank ofAssistant Secretary, or of equivalentrank, or equivalent degree of respon-sibility, and shall have sufficient head-quarters staff with the necessary train-ing and experience. The headquartersstaff should report directly to, or haveappropriate access to, the Designated

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Agency Safety and Health Official, inorder to carry out the responsibilitiesunder this part.

(b) The Designated Agency Safetyand Health Official shall assist theagency head in establishing:

(1) An agency occupational safetyand health policy and program to carryout the provisions of section 19 of theAct, Executive Order 12196, and thispart;

(2) An organization, including provi-sion for the designation of safety andhealth officials at appropriate levels,with adequate budgets and staffs to im-plement the occupational safety andhealth program at all operational lev-els;

(3) A set of procedures that ensureseffective implementation of the agencypolicy and program as required by sec-tion 19 of the Act, Executive Order12196, and the program elements of thispart, considering the mission, size, andorganization of the agency;

(4) Goals and objectives for reducingand eliminating occupational acci-dents, injuries, and illnesses;

(5) Plans and procedures for evaluat-ing the agency’s occupational safetyand health program effectiveness at alloperational levels; and

(6) Priorities with respect to the fac-tors which cause occupational acci-dents, injuries, and illnesses in theagency’s workplaces so that appro-priate corrective actions can be taken.

(c) The agency head shall assure thatsafety and health officials are des-ignated at each appropriate level withsufficient authority and responsibilityto plan for and assure funds for nec-essary safety and health staff, equip-ment, materials, and training requiredto ensure implementation of an effec-tive occupational safety and healthprogram.

§ 1960.7 Financial management.(a) The head of each agency shall en-

sure that the agency budget submis-sion includes appropriate financial andother resources to effectively imple-ment and administer the agency’s oc-cupational safety and health program.

(b) The Designated Agency Safetyand Health Official, management offi-cials in charge of each establishment,safety and health officials at all appro-

priate levels, and other managementofficials shall be responsible for plan-ning, requesting resources, implement-ing, and evaluating the occupationalsafety and health program budget inaccordance with the regulations of theOffice of Management and Budget Cir-cular A–11 (sections 13.2(f) and 13.5(f))and other relevant documents.

(c) Appropriate resources for an agen-cy’s occupational safety and healthprogram shall include, but not be lim-ited to:

(1) Sufficient personnel to implementand administer the program at all lev-els, including necessary administrativecosts such as training, travel, and per-sonal protective equipment;

(2) Abatement of unsafe or unhealth-ful working conditions related to agen-cy operations or facilities;

(3) Safety and health sampling, test-ing, and diagnostic and analytical toolsand equipment, including laboratoryanalyses;

(4) Any necessary contracts to iden-tify, analyze, or evaluate unsafe orunhealthful working conditions and op-erations;

(5) Program promotional costs suchas publications, posters, or films;

(6) Technical information, docu-ments, books, standards, codes, peri-odicals, and publications; and

(7) Medical surveillance programs foremployees.

§ 1960.8 Agency responsibilities.(a) The head of each agency shall fur-

nish to each employee employment anda place of employment which are freefrom recognized hazards that are caus-ing or are likely to cause death or seri-ous physical harm.

(b) The head of each agency shallcomply with the Occupational Safetyand Health Administration standardsapplicable to the agency.

(c) The head of each agency shall de-velop, implement, and evaluate an oc-cupational safety and health programin accordance with the requirements ofsection 19 of the Act, Executive Order12196, and the basic program elementsprescribed in this part, or approved al-ternate program elements.

(d) The head of each agency shall ac-quire, maintain, and require the use ofapproved personal protective equip-

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ment, approved safety equipment, andother devices necessary to protect em-ployees.

(e) In order to provide essential spe-cialized expertise, agency heads shallauthorize safety and health personnelto utilize such expertise from whateversource available, including but not lim-ited to other agencies, professionalgroups, consultants, universities, labororganizations, and safety and healthcommittees.

§ 1960.9 Supervisory responsibilities.Employees who exercise supervisory

functions shall, to the extent of theirauthority, furnish employees employ-ment and a place of employment whichare free from recognized hazards thatare causing or are likely to cause deathor serious physical harm. They shallalso comply with the occupationalsafety and health standards applicableto their agency and with all rules, reg-ulations, and orders issued by the headof the agency with respect to the agen-cy occupational safety and health pro-gram.

§ 1960.10 Employee responsibilitiesand rights.

(a) Each employee shall comply withthe standards, rules, regulations, andorders issued by his/her agency in ac-cordance with section 19 of the Act, Ex-ecutive Order 12196, and this part whichare applicable to his/her own actionsand conduct.

(b) Employees shall use safety equip-ment, personal protective equipment,and other devices and procedures pro-vided or directed by the agency andnecessary for their protection.

(c) Employees shall have the right toreport unsafe and unhealthful workingconditions to appropriate officials.

(d) Employees shall be authorized of-ficial time to participate in the activi-ties provided for in section 19 of theAct, Executive Order 12196, this part,and the agency occupational safety andhealth program.

§ 1960.11 Evaluation of occupationalsafety and health performance.

Each agency head shall ensure thatany performance evaluation of anymanagement official in charge of an es-tablishment, any supervisory em-

ployee, or other appropriate manage-ment official, measures that employ-ee’s performance in meeting require-ments of the agency occupational safe-ty and health program, consistent withthe employee’s assigned responsibil-ities and authority, and taking intoconsideration any applicable regula-tions of the Office of Personnel Man-agement or other appropriate author-ity. The recognition of superior per-formance in discharging safety andhealth responsibilities by an individualor group should be encouraged andnoted.

§ 1960.12 Dissemination of occupa-tional safety and health program in-formation.

(a) Copies of the Act, Executive Order12196, program elements published inthis part, details of the agency’s occu-pational safety and health program,and applicable safety and health stand-ards shall be made available upon re-quest to employees or employee rep-resentatives for review.

(b) A copy of the agency’s written oc-cupational safety and health programapplicable to the establishment shallbe made available to each supervisor,each occupational safety and healthcommittee member, and to employeerepresentatives.

(c) Each agency shall post conspicu-ously in each establishment, and keepposted, a poster informing employeesof the provisions of the Act, ExecutiveOrder 12196, and the agency occupa-tional safety and health program underthis part. The Department of Laborwill furnish the core text of a poster toagencies. Each agency shall add thefollowing items:

(1) Details of the agency’s proceduresfor responding to reports by employeesof unsafe or unhealthful working condi-tions, and to allegations of discrimina-tion or reprisal due to participation insafety and/or health activities; (2) thelocation where employees may obtaininformation about the agency’s occupa-tional safety and health program, in-cluding the full text of agency occupa-tional safety and health standards, and(3) relevant information about anyagency safety and health committees.Such posters and additions shall not be

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altered, defaced, or covered by othermaterial.

(d) A copy of the agency’s postershall be provided to the Secretary. Ifthe agency needs assistance and adviceon the content and development of theposter, such shall be requested of theSecretary prior to printing and dis-tribution.

(e) Agency heads shall promote em-ployee awareness of occupational safe-ty and health matters through their or-dinary information channels, such asnewsletters, bulletins and handbooks.

Subpart C—Standards§ 1960.16 Compliance with OSHA

standards.Each agency head shall comply with

all occupational safety and healthstandards issued under section 6 of theAct, or with alternate standards issuedpursuant to this subpart. In complyingwith section 6 standards, an agencymay, upon prior notification to theSecretary, prescribe and enforce morestringent permissible exposure levelsor threshhold limit values and may re-quire more frequent monitoring of ex-posures without recourse to the ap-proval procedures for alternate stand-ards described in § 1960.17. In addition,after consultation with employees andsafety and health committees and priornotification to the Secretary, an agen-cy may utilize the latest edition of areference standard if it is more strin-gent than the section 6 standard. Afternotification, the Secretary may requirethe use of the approval procedures foralternate standards for any of the situ-ations described in this paragraph.

§ 1960.17 Alternate standards.An agency head may apply an alter-

nate standard where deemed necessary,and shall, after consultation with em-ployees or their representatives, in-cluding appropriate occupational safe-ty and health committees, notify theSecretary and request approval of suchalternate standards.

(a) Any request by the head of theagency for an alternate standard shallbe transmitted to the Secretary.

(b) Any such request for an alternatestandard shall not be approved by theSecretary unless it provides equivalent

or greater protection for affected em-ployees. Any such request shall in-clude:

(1) A statement of why the agencycannot comply with the OSHA stand-ard or wants to adopt an alternatestandard;

(2) A description of the alternatestandard;

(3) An explanation of how the alter-nate standard provides equivalent orgreater protection for the affected em-ployees;

(4) A description of interim protec-tive measures afforded employees untila decision is rendered by the Secretaryof Labor; and

(5) A summary of written comments,if any, from interested employees, em-ployee representatives, and occupa-tional safety and health committees.

§ 1960.18 Supplementary standards.(a) In addition to complying with

emergency temporary standards issuedunder section 6 of the Act, an agencyhead shall adopt such emergency tem-porary and permanent supplementarystandards as necessary and appropriatefor application to working conditionsof agency employees for which thereexists no appropriate OSHA standards.In order to avoid any possible duplica-tion of effort, the agency head shouldnotify the Secretary of the subjectmatter of such standard when the de-velopment of the standard begins.

(b) The agency head shall send a copyof the final draft of the permanent sup-plementary standard to the Secretaryprior to official adoption by the agen-cy, along with any written commentson the standard from interested em-ployees, employee representatives, andoccupational safety and health com-mittees. If the Secretary finds the per-manent supplementary standard to beadopted inconsistent with OSHA stand-ards, or inconsistent with OSHA en-forcement practices under section5(a)(1) of the Act, the Secretary shallhave 15 working days in which to no-tify the head of the agency of this find-ing. In such a case, the supplementarystandard shall not be adopted, but theagency will be afforded an opportunityto resubmit a revised standard that isdesigned to provide adequate protec-tion and is consistent with OSHA

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standards. Upon request of the agencyhead, the Secretary shall offer to theagency technical assistance in the de-velopment of the supplemental stand-ard.

§ 1960.19 Other Federal agency stand-ards affecting occupational safetyand health.

(a) Where employees of differentagencies engage in joint operations,and/or primarily report to work orcarry out operations in the same estab-lishment, the standards adopted under§ 1960.17 or § 1960.18 of the host agencyshall govern.

(b) There are situations in which thehead of an agency is required to com-ply with standards affecting occupa-tional safety and health issued by aFederal agency other than OSHA. Forexample, standards issued by the Fed-eral Aviation Administration, the De-partment of Energy, or the GeneralServices Administration may be appli-cable to certain Federal workplaces.Nothing in this subpart affects theduty of any agency head to complywith such standards. In addition, agen-cy heads should comply with otherstandards issued by Federal agencieswhich deal with hazardous workingconditions, but for which OSHA has nostandards.

(c) Although it is not anticipatedthat standards of other Federal agen-cies will conflict with OSHA standards,should such conflict occur, the head ofthe agency shall inform the other Fed-eral agency and the Secretary so thatjoint efforts to resolve the issues maybe undertaken. However, until conflictsare resolved, agencies shall complywith the more protective of the con-flicting standards.

Subpart D—Inspection andAbatement

§ 1960.25 Qualifications of safety andhealth inspectors and agency in-spections.

(a) Executive Order 12196 requiresthat each agency utilize as inspectors‘‘personnel with equipment and com-petence to recognize hazards.’’ Inspec-tions shall be conducted by inspectorsqualified to recognize and evaluatehazards of the working environment

and to suggest general abatement pro-cedures. Safety and health specialistsas defined in § 1960.2(s), with experienceand/or up-to-date training in occupa-tional safety and health hazard rec-ognition and evaluation are consideredas meeting the qualifications of safetyand health inspectors. For those work-ing environments where there are lesscomplex hazards, such safety andhealth specializations as cited abovemay not be required, but inspectors insuch environments shall have suffi-cient documented training and/or expe-rience in the safety and health hazardsof the workplace involved to recognizeand evaluate those particular hazardsand to suggest general abatement pro-cedures. All inspection personnel mustbe provided the equipment necessary toconduct a thorough inspection of theworkplace involved.

(b) Each agency which has work-places containing information classi-fied in the interest of national securityshall provide access to safety andhealth inspectors who have obtainedthe appropriate security clearance.

(c) All areas and operations of eachworkplace, including office operations,shall be inspected at least annually.More frequent inspections shall be con-ducted in all workplaces where there isan increased risk of accident, injury, orillness due to the nature of the workperformed. Sufficient unannounced in-spections and unannounced follow-upinspections should be conducted by theagency to ensure the identification andabatement of hazardous conditions.

(d) When situations arise involvingmultiple agencies’ responsibilities forconditions affecting employee safetyand health, coordination of inspectionfunctions is encouraged.

§ 1960.26 Conduct of inspections.

(a) Preparation. (1) Prior to com-mencement of the inspection, the Safe-ty and Health Inspector shall be pro-vided all available relevant informa-tion which pertains to the occupationalsafety and health of the workplace tobe inspected, including safety andhealth hazard reports, injury and ill-ness records, previous inspection re-ports, and reports of unsafe andunhealthful working conditions.

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(2) The Safety and Health Inspectorshall determine in advance, where pos-sible, the actual work procedures andconditions to be inspected, in order tohave the proper equipment available toconduct an effective inspection.

(b) Inspection. (1) For the purpose ofassuring safe and healthful workingconditions for employees of agencies,the head of the agency shall authorizesafety and/or health inspectors: Toenter without delay, and at reasonabletimes, any building, installation, facil-ity, construction site, or other area,workplace, or environment where workis performed by employees of the agen-cy; to inspect and investigate duringregular working hours and at otherreasonable times, and within reason-able limits and in a reasonable manner,any such place of employment and allpertinent conditions, structures, ma-chines, apparatus, devices, equipment,and materials therein, and to questionprivately any agency employee, and/orany agency supervisory employee, and/or any official in charge of an estab-lishment.

(2) If there are no authorized rep-resentatives of employees, the inspec-tor shall consult with a reasonablenumber of employees during thewalkaround.

(3) When, in the opinion of the in-spector, it is necessary to conduct per-sonal monitoring (sampling) of employ-ee’s work environments, the inspectormay request employees to wear reason-able and necessary personal monitoringdevices, e.g., noise dosimeters and airsampling pumps, for periods deter-mined by the inspector to be necessaryfor complete and effective sampling ofthe environment.

(4) Upon request of the inspector, theemployer shall encourage employees towear the personal environmental mon-itoring devices during an inspection.

(5) Whenever and as soon as it is con-cluded on the basis of an inspectionthat a danger exists which could rea-sonably be expected to cause death orserious physical harm immediately,the inspector shall inform the affectedemployees and official in charge of theworkplace of the danger. The official incharge of the workplace, or a personempowered to act for that official,shall undertake immediate abatement

and the withdrawal of employees whoare not necessary for abatement of thedangerous conditions. In the event theofficial in charge of the workplaceneeds assistance to undertake fullabatement, that official shall promptlycontact the Designated Agency Safetyand Health Official and other respon-sible agency officials, who shall assistthe abatement effort. Safety andhealth committees shall be informed ofall relevant actions and representa-tives of the employees shall be so in-formed.

(6) At the conclusion of an inspec-tion, the Safety and Health Inspectorshall confer with the official in chargeof the workplace or that official’s rep-resentative, and with an appropriaterepresentative of the employees of theestablishment, and informally advisethem of any apparent unsafe orunhealthful working conditions dis-closed by the inspection. During anysuch conference, the official in chargeof the workplace and the employee rep-resentative shall be afforded an oppor-tunity to bring to the attention of theSafety and Health Inspector any perti-nent information regarding conditionsin the workplace.

(c) Written reports and notices of un-safe or unhealthful working conditions.(1) The inspector shall, in writing, de-scribe with particularity the proce-dures followed in the inspection andthe findings which form the basis forthe issuance of any Notice of Unsafe orUnhealthful Working Conditions.

(2) Each agency shall establish a pro-cedure for the prompt issuance of a No-tice of Unsafe or Unhealthful WorkingConditions. Such notices shall be is-sued not later than 15 days after com-pletion of the inspection for safety vio-lations or not later than 30 days forhealth violations. If there are compel-ling reasons why such notice cannot beissued within the 15 days or 30 days in-dicated, the persons described in para-graph (c)(2)(iii) of this section shall beinformed of the reasons for the delay.Such procedure shall include the fol-lowing:

(i) Notices shall be in writing andshall describe with particularity thenature and degree of seriousness of theunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tion, including a reference to the

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standard or other requirement in-volved; (ii) the notice shall fix a rea-sonable time for the abatement of theunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tion; and (iii) a copy of the notice shallbe sent to the official in charge of theworkplace, the employee representa-tive who participated in the closingconference, and/or the safety andhealth committee of the workplace, ifany.

(3) Upon receipt of any notice of anunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tion, the official in charge of a work-place shall immediately post such no-tice, or copy thereof, unedited, exceptfor reason of national security, at ornear each place an unsafe orunhealthful working condition referredto in the notice exists or existed. In ad-dition, a notice shall be posted if anyspecial procedures are in effect. Where,because of the nature of the workplaceoperations, it is not practicable to postthe notice at or near each such place,such notice shall be posted, unedited,except for reason of national security,in a prominent place where it will bereadily observable by all affected em-ployees. For example, where workplaceactivities are physically dispersed, thenotice may be posted at the location towhich employees report each day.Where employees do not primarilywork at or report to a single location,the notice may be posted at the loca-tion from which the employees operateto carry out their activities.

(4) Each notice of an unsafe orunhealthful working condition, or acopy thereof, shall remain posted untilthe unsafe or unhealthful working con-dition has been abated or for 3 workingdays whichever is later. A copy of thenotice will be filed and maintained fora period of five years after abatementat the establishment and made avail-able to the Secretary upon request.

[45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980; 45 FR 77003, Nov.21, 1980]

§ 1960.27 Representatives of officialsin charge and representatives ofemployees.

(a) Safety and health inspectors shallbe in charge of inspections and mayinterview any employee in private ifthe inspector deems it necessary. Arepresentative of the official in charge

of a workplace and a representative ofemployees shall be given an oppor-tunity to accompany Safety andHealth Inspectors during the physicalinspection of any workplace, both toaid the inspection and to provide suchrepresentatives with more detailedknowledge of any existing or potentialunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tions. The representative of employeesshall be selected by the employees. Ad-ditional representatives of the officialin charge and additional representa-tives of employees may accompany theSafety and Health Inspectors if it is de-termined by the inspector that suchadditional representatives will furtheraid the inspection. Different represent-atives of the employer and employeesmay be allowed to accompany the In-spector during each different phase ofan inspection.

(b) Safety and health inspectors shallbe authorized to deny the right of ac-companiment under this section to anyperson whose participation interfereswith a fair and orderly inspection.

(c) With regard to facilities classifiedin the interest of national security,only persons authorized to have accessto such facilities shall be allowed toaccompany a Safety and Health Inspec-tor in such areas.

(d) Safety and health inspectors shallconsult with employees concerningmatters of occupational safety andhealth to the extent deemed necessaryfor the conduct of an effective andthorough inspection. During the courseof an inspection, any employee shall beafforded an opportunity to bring to theattention of the Safety and Health In-spector any unsafe or unhealthfulworking condition which the employeehas reason to believe exists in theworkplace.

§ 1960.28 Employee reports of unsafeor unhealthful working conditions.

(a) The purpose of employee reportsis to inform agencies of the existenceof, or potential for, unsafe orunhealthful working conditions. A re-port under this part is not a grievance.

(b) This section provides guidance inestablishing a channel of communica-tion between agency employees andthose with responsibilities for safetyand health matters, e.g., their super-

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visor, the agency safety and health of-ficials, safety and health committees,safety and health inspectors, the headof the agency, or the Secretary. Thesechannels of communication are in-tended to assure prompt analysis andresponse to reports of unsafe orunhealthful working conditions in ac-cordance with the requirements of Ex-ecutive Order 12196. Since many safetyand health problems can be eliminatedas soon as they are identified, the ex-istence of a formal channel of commu-nication shall not preclude immediatecorrective action by an employee’s su-pervisor in response to oral reports ofunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tions where such action is possible. Norshould an employee be required toawait the outcome of such an oral re-port before filing a written report pur-suant to the provisions of this section.

(c) Any employee or representative ofemployees, who believes that an unsafeor unhealthful working condition ex-ists in any workplace where such em-ployee is employed, shall have theright and is encouraged to make a re-port of the unsafe or unhealthful work-ing condition to an appropriate agencysafety and health official and requestan inspection of such workplace forthis purpose. The report shall be re-duced to writing either by the individ-ual submitting the report or, in thecase of an oral notification, by theabove official or other person des-ignated to receive the reports in theworkplace. Any such report shall setforth the grounds for the report andshall contain the name of the employeeor representative of employees. Uponthe request of the individual makingsuch report, no person shall disclosethe name of the individual making thereport or the names of individual em-ployees referred to in the report, toanyone other than authorized rep-resentatives of the Secretary. In thecase of imminent danger situations,employees shall make reports by themost expeditious means available.

(d) Reports received by the agency. (1)Each report of an existing or potentialunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tion should be recorded on a log main-tained at the establishment. If an agen-cy finds it inappropriate to maintain alog of written reports at the establish-

ment level, it may avail itself of proce-dures set forth in § 1960.71. A copy ofeach report received shall be sent tothe appropriate establishment safetyand health committee.

(2) A sequentially numbered case file,coded for identification, should be as-signed for purposes of maintaining anaccurate record of the report and theresponse thereto. As a minimum, eachestablishment’s log should contain thefollowing information: date, time,code/reference/file number, location ofcondition, brief description of the con-dition, classification (imminent dan-ger, serious or other), and date and na-ture of action taken.

(3) Executive Order 12196 requiresthat agency inspections be conductedwithin 24 hours for employee reports ofimminent danger conditions, withinthree working days for potentially seri-ous conditions, and within 20 workingdays for other than serious safety andhealth conditions. However, an inspec-tion may not be necessary if, throughnormal management action and withprompt notification to employees andsafety and health committees, the haz-ardous condition(s) identified can beabated immediately.

(4) An employee submitting a reportof unsafe or unhealthful conditionsshall be notified in writing within 15days if the official receiving the reportdetermines there are not reasonablegrounds to believe such a hazard existsand does not plan to make an inspec-tion based on such report. A copy ofeach such notification shall be pro-vided by the agency to the appropriatecertified safety and health committee,where established under ExecutiveOrder 12196. An agency’s inspection orinvestigation report, if any, shall bemade available to the employee mak-ing the report within 15 days aftercompletion of the inspection, for safetyviolations or within 30 days for healthviolations, unless there are compellingreasons, and shall be made available tothe Secretary or the Secretary’s au-thorized representative on request.

(e) Reports received by the Secretary ofLabor. (1) Agency safety and healthprograms must have provisions for re-sponding to employees’ reports of un-safe or unhealthful working conditionsand the Secretary encourages employ-

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ees to use agency procedures as themost expeditious means of achievingabatement of hazardous conditions. Itis recognized, however, that employeereports may be received directly by theSecretary.

(2) When such reports are received di-rectly from an employee or employeerepresentative, the Secretary shall,where a certified safety and healthcommittee exists, forward the report tothe agency for handling in accordancewith procedures outlined in § 1960.28(d).A copy of the response to the origina-tor shall be sent to the Secretary.

(3) Where there is no certified safetyand health committee, or when re-quested by half the members of a com-mittee, the Secretary may initiate aninspection or other appropriate action.When the Secretary determines that aninspection is warranted, the Secretaryshall observe the same response timesas required of the agencies under theExecutive Order and § 1960.28(d)(3).When the Secretary determines not tomake an inspection, the report shall beforwarded to the agency for handling inaccordance with procedures outlined in§ 1960.28(d). A copy of the response tothe originator shall be sent to the Sec-retary.

§ 1960.29 Accident investigation.(a) While all accidents should be in-

vestigated, including accidents involv-ing property damage only, the extentof such investigation shall be reflectiveof the seriousness of the accident.

(b) In any case, each accident whichresults in a fatality or the hospitaliza-tion of five or more employees shall beinvestigated to determine the causalfactors involved. Except to the extentnecessary to protect employees and thepublic, evidence at the scene of an acci-dent shall be left untouched until in-spectors have an opportunity to exam-ine it.

(c) Any information or evidence un-covered during accident investigationswhich would be of benefit in developinga new OSHA standard or in modifyingor revoking an existing standardshould be promptly transmitted to theSecretary.

(d) The investigative report of the ac-cident shall include appropriate docu-mentation on date, time, location, de-

scription of operations, description ofaccident, photographs, interviews ofemployees and witnesses, measure-ments, and other pertinent informa-tion. A copy of the investigative reportrequired by this section shall be for-warded to the official in charge of theworkplace, the appropriate safety andhealth committee, and the exclusiveemployee representative, if any. Theinvestigative report shall be madeavailable to the Secretary or his au-thorized representative on request.

§ 1960.30 Abatement of unsafe orunhealthful working conditions.

(a) The agency shall ensure theprompt abatement of unsafe andunhealthful conditions. Where a Noticeof an Unsafe or Unhealthful WorkingCondition has been issued, abatementshall be within the time set forth inthe notice, or in accordance with theestablished abatement plan.

(b) The procedures for correcting un-safe or unhealthful working conditionsshall include a follow-up, to the extentnecessary, to determine whether thecorrection was made. If, upon the fol-low-up, it appears that the correctionwas not made, or was not carried out inaccordance with an abatement planprepared pursuant to paragraph (c) ofthis section, the official in charge ofthe establishment and the appropriatesafety and health committee shall benotified of the failure to abate.

(c) The official in charge of the estab-lishment shall promptly prepare anabatement plan with the appropriateparticipation of the establishment’sSafety and Health Official or a des-ignee, if in the judgment of the estab-lishment official the abatement of anunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tion will not be possible within 30 cal-endar days. Such plan shall contain anexplanation of the circumstances of thedelay in abatement, a proposed time-table for the abatement, and a sum-mary of steps being taken in the in-terim to protect employees from beinginjured as a result of the unsafe orunhealthful working condition. A copyof the plan shall be sent to the safetyand health committee, and, if no com-mittee exists, to the representative ofthe employees. Any changes in anabatement plan will require the prepa-

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ration of a new plan in accordance withthe provisions of this section.

(d) When a hazard cannot be abatedwithin the authority and resources ofthe official in charge of the establish-ment, that official shall request assist-ance from appropriate higher author-ity. The local safety and health offi-cial, any established committee and/oremployee representatives, and all per-sonnel subject to the hazard shall beadvised of this action and of interimprotective measures in effect, and shallbe kept informed of subsequentprogress on the abatement plan.

(e) When a hazard cannot be abatedwithout assistance of the General Serv-ices Administration or other Federallessor agency, the occupant agencyshall act with the lessor agency to se-cure abatement. Procedures for coordi-nation with the General Services Ad-ministration are contained in subpartE of this part.

§ 1960.31 Inspections by OSHA.(a) The Secretary or the Secretary’s

representatives are authorized to con-duct, when the Secretary deems nec-essary, announced or unannounced in-spections in the following situations:

(1) Where an agency has not estab-lished occupational safety and healthcommittees or where committees nolonger operate in conformance to therequirements of subpart F of this part;

(2) In response to a request from halfthe membership of record of any cer-tified safety and health committee;and

(3) In response to an employee’s re-port of an imminent danger situation,where there is a certified committee,but where the Secretary determinesthat neither the agency nor the com-mittee has responded to the employee.

(b) The Secretary’s inspectors orevaluators are authorized: to enterwithout delay, and at reasonable times,any building, installation, facility,construction site, or other area, work-place, or environment where work isperformed by employees of the agency;to inspect and investigate during regu-lar working hours and at other reason-able times, and within reasonable lim-its and in a reasonable manner, anysuch place of employment, and all per-tinent conditions, structures, ma-

chines, apparatus, devices, equipment,and materials therein, and to questionprivately any employee, any super-visory employee, and/or any official incharge of an establishment.

(c) The Secretary may also makescheduled inspections as an integralpart of OSHA’s evaluation of an agen-cy’s safety and health program in ac-cordance with subpart J of this part.

(d) OSHA inspections shall follow thegeneral format set forth for agency in-spections in other applicable parts ofthis subpart.

Subpart E—General Services Ad-ministration and Other FederalAgencies

§ 1960.34 General provisions.Within six months of the effective

date of this part, the Secretary ofLabor and the Administrator of theGeneral Services Administration (GSA)shall initiate a study of conflicts thatmay exist in their standards concern-ing Federal buildings, leased space,products purchased or supplied, andother requirements affecting Federalemployee safety and health. Both agen-cies shall establish and publish a jointprocedure for resolving conflictingstandards. All other Federal agenciesthat have authority for purchasingequipment, supplies, and materials,and for controlling Government space,as well as the leasing of space, shallalso be subject to the requirements ofthis subpart, including publication of aprocedure for resolving conflictingstandards.

(a) In order to assist agencies in car-rying out their duties under section 19of the Act, Executive Order 12196, andthis part, the Administrator or the Ad-ministrator’s designee shall:

(1) Upon an agency’s request, furnishfor any owned or leased space offeredto a Federal agency for occupancy: (i)A report of a recent pre-occupancy in-spection to identify serious hazards orserious violations of OSHA standardsor approved alternate standards, and(ii) a plan for abatement of the hazardsand violations discovered;

(2) Provide space which: (i) Meets anyspecial safety and health requirementssubmitted by the requesting agency,and (ii) does not contain either serious

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hazards or serious violations of OSHAstandards or approved alternate stand-ards which cannot be abated;

(3) Repair, renovate, or alter, upon anagency’s request, owned or leased spacein a planned and controlled manner toreduce or eliminate, whenever possible,any hazardous exposure to the occu-pant agency’s employees;

(4) Accompany, upon request, theSecretary or the Secretary’s designeeon any inspection or investigation of afacility subject to the authority of theGeneral Services Administration. Re-quests made for this purpose shall,whenever possible, be made at the GSAregional level in order to facilitateprompt assistance;

(5) Investigate, upon an official agen-cy request, reports of unsafe orunhealthful conditions within thescope of GSA’s responsibility. Such in-vestigation, when requiring an on-siteinspection, shall be completed within24 hours for imminent danger situa-tions, within three working days forpotentially serious conditions, andwithin 20 working days for other safetyand health risk conditions;

(6) Abate unsafe or unhealthful con-ditions disclosed by reports, investiga-tion or inspection within 30 calendardays or submit to the occupant agen-cy’s designated liaison official anabatement plan. Such abatement planshall give priority to the allocation ofresources to bring about prompt abate-ment of the conditions. (GSA shall pub-lish procedures for abatement of haz-ards in the Federal Property Manage-ment Regulations—41 CFR part 101);

(7) Establish an occupancy permitprogram which will regulate the typesof activities and occupancies in facili-ties in order to avoid incompatiblegroupings, e.g., chemical or biologicallaboratories in office space. GSA shallseek to consolidate Federal laboratoryoperations in facilities designed forsuch purposes;

(8) Ensure, insofar as possible, thatagency safety and health problems stilloutstanding are resolved, or otherwiseanswered by acceptable alternativesprior to renegotiation of leases; and

(9) Ensure that GSA or other Federallessor agencies’ building managersmaintain a log of reports of unsafe orunhealthful conditions submitted by

tenants to include: date of receipt ofreport, action taken, and final resolu-tion.

(b) Product safety. Agencies such asGSA, DOD, and others which procureand provide supplies, equipment, de-vices, and material for their own use oruse by other agencies, except for thedesign of uniquely military products asset forth in § 1960.2(i), shall establishand maintain a product safety programwhich:

(1) Ensures that items procured willallow user agencies to use such prod-ucts safely for their designed purposeand will facilitate user compliancewith all applicable standards.

(2) Requires that products meet theapplicable safety and health require-ments of Federal law and regulationsissued thereunder;

(3) Ensures that hazardous materialwill be labelled in accordance with cur-rent law or regulation to alert users,shippers, occupational safety andhealth, and emergency action person-nel, and others, to basic informationconcerning flammability, toxicity,compatibility, first aid procedures, andnormal as well as emergency handlingand disposal procedures;

(4) Ensures availability of appro-priate safety rescue and personal pro-tective equipment to supply user agen-cies. The writing of Federal procure-ment specifications will be coordinatedby GSA with OSHA/NIOSH as needed toassure purchase of approved products;

(5) Ensures that products recalled bythe manufacturer, either voluntarily orby order from a regulatory authority,are removed from inventory. Each re-call notice or order shall be forwardedto all agencies which have ordered suchproduct from or through the procuring/supplying Federal agency, e.g., GSA,DOD, etc.;

(6) Includes preparation of FEDSTD313, Material Safety Data Sheets(MSDS), involving all interested agen-cies in review to keep the standard cur-rent. MSDS provided by agencies orcontractors shall meet the require-ments of FEDSTD 313 and be furnishedto DOD for filing and distribution.

(c) In order to assist agencies in car-rying out their duties under section 19of the Act, Executive Order 12196, andthis part, the DOD operates and main-

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tains an automated system to receive,file, reproduce, and make availableMSDS data to other Federal agenciesthrough the Government Printing Of-fice or the National Technical Informa-tion Services.

(d) All Federal agencies shall useMSDS either provided by DOD, or ac-quired directly from suppliers, whenpurchasing hazardous materials (as de-fined in FEDSTD 313) for local use.These data will be used to develop de-tailed procedures to advise employeesin the workplace of the hazards in-volved with the materials and to pro-tect them therefrom.

(e) Safety and health services. GSAwill operate and maintain for useragencies the following services:

(1) Listings in the ‘‘Federal SupplySchedule’’ of safety and health servicesand equipment which are approved foruse by agencies when needed. Examplesof such services are: Workplace inspec-tions, training, industrial hygiene sur-veys, asbestos bulk sampling, and mo-bile health testing; examples of suchequipment are: personal protectiveequipment and apparel, safety devices,and environmental monitoring equip-ment;

(2) Rules for assistance in the prepa-ration of agency ‘‘Occupant EmergencyPlans’’ (formerly called ‘‘Facility Self-Protection Plans’’), to be published byGSA at 41 CFR part 101;

(3) An effective maintenance programin the Interagency Motorpool Systemwhich will ensure the safety and healthof Federal employees utilizing the ve-hicles. Critical items to be includedare: Exhaust systems, brakes, tires,lights, steering, and passenger re-straint or other crash protection sys-tems; and

(4) A rapid response system wherebyagencies can alert GSA to unsafe orunhealthful items purchased or con-tracted for by GSA, which in turn willevaluate the reports, initiate correc-tive action, as appropriate, and adviseuse agencies of interim protectivemeasures.

§ 1960.35 National Institute for Occu-pational Safety and Health.

(a) The Director of the National In-stitute for Occupational Safety andHealth (NIOSH) shall, upon request by

the Secretary, assist in: (1) Evaluationsof Federal agency safety and healthprograms; (2) investigations of possiblesafety and health hazards and (3) in-spections resulting from employee orcommittee reports of unsafe orunhealthful working conditions.

(b) The Director of NIOSH shall pro-vide a Hazard Evaluation (HE) programfor Federal agencies. This programshall be designed to respond to requestsfor assistance in determining whetheror not safety or health hazards arepresent in a Federal workplace. Re-quests for such Hazard Evaluationsmay be submitted to the Director by:

(1) The Secretary of Labor;(2) The Head of a Federal agency;(3) An agency safety and health com-

mittee if half the committee requestssuch service; and

(4) Employees who are not covered bya certified safety and health commit-tee.

(c) The Director of NIOSH may assistagencies by providing hazard alerts,technical services, training materialsand conducting training programs uponrequest by an agency and with reim-bursement.

Subpart F—Occupational Safetyand Health Committees

§ 1960.36 General provisions.(a) The occupational safety and

health committees described in thissubpart are organized and maintainedbasically to monitor and assist anagency’s safety and health program.These committees assist agencies tomaintain an open channel of commu-nication between employees and man-agement concerning safety and healthmatters in agency workplaces. Thecommittees provide a method by whichemployees can utilize their knowledgeof workplace operations to assist agen-cy management to improve policies,conditions, and practices.

(b) Agencies may elect to establishsafety and health committees meetingthe minimum requirements containedin this subpart. Where such commit-tees are not established or fail to meetthe minimum requirements establishedby the Secretary, the Secretary is au-thorized by section 1–401(i) of Execu-tive Order 12196 to conduct unan-

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nounced inspections of agency work-places when the Secretary determinesthem necessary.

§ 1960.37 Committee organization.

(a) For agencies which elect to uti-lize the committee concept, safety andhealth committees shall be formed atboth the national level and, for agen-cies with field or regional offices, atappropriate levels within the agency.To realize exemption from unan-nounced OSHA inspections, an agencymust form a committee at the nationallevel and at any establishment orgrouping of establishments that is tobe exempt, keeping the Secretary ad-vised of the locations and activitieswhere such committees are function-ing.

(1) The principal function of the na-tional level committee shall be to con-sult and provide policy advice on, andmonitor the performance of, the agen-cy-wide safety and health program.

(2) Committees at other appropriatelevels shall be established at agency es-tablishments or groupings of establish-ments consistent with the mission, sizeand organization of the agency and itscollective bargaining configuration.The agency shall form committees atthe lowest practicable local level. Theprincipal function of the establishment(or local) committees is to monitor andassist in the execution of the agency’ssafety and health policies and programat the workplaces within their jurisdic-tion. Any dispute over the meaning ofthe term ‘‘appropriate levels’’ shall beresolved by the Secretary.

(b) Committees shall have equal rep-resentation of management andnonmanagement employees, who shallbe members of record.

(1) Management members of both na-tional level and establishment levelcommittees shall be appointed in writ-ing by the person empowered to makesuch appointments.

(2) Nonmanagement members of es-tablishment level committees shallrepresent all employees of the estab-lishment and shall be determined ac-cording to the following rules:

(i) Where employees are representedunder collective bargaining arrange-ments, members shall be appointed

from among those recommended by theexclusive bargaining representative;

(ii) Where employees are not rep-resented under collective bargainingarrangements, members shall be deter-mined through procedures devised bythe agency which provide for effectiverepresentation of all employees; and

(iii) Where some employees of an es-tablishment are covered under collec-tive bargaining arrangements and oth-ers are not, members shall be rep-resentative of both groups.

(3) Nonmanagement members of na-tional level committees shall be deter-mined according to the following rules:

(i) Where employees are representedby organizations having exclusive rec-ognition on an agency basis or by orga-nizations having national consultationrights, some members shall be deter-mined in accordance with the terms ofcollective bargaining agreements andsome members shall be selected fromthose organizations having consulta-tion rights, and

(ii) Where employees are not rep-resented by organizations meeting thecriteria of paragraph (b)(3)(i) of thissection, members shall be determinedthrough procedures devised by theagency which provide for effective rep-resentation of all employees.

(c) Committee members should serveoverlapping terms. Such terms shouldbe of at least two years duration, ex-cept when the committee is initiallyorganized.

(d) The committee chairperson shallbe nominated from among the commit-tee’s members and shall be elected bythe committee members. Managementand nonmanagement members shouldalternate in this position. Maximumservice time as chairperson should betwo consecutive years.

(e) Committees shall establish a reg-ular schedule of meetings and specialmeetings shall be held as necessary; es-tablishment level committees shallmeet at least quarterly and nationalcommittees shall meet at least annu-ally.

(f) Adequate advance notice of com-mittee meetings shall be furnished toemployees and each meeting shall beconducted pursuant to a prepared agen-da.

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(g) Written minutes of each commit-tee meeting shall be maintained anddistributed to each committee mem-ber, and upon request, shall be madeavailable to employees and to the Sec-retary.

§ 1960.38 Committee formation.

(a) Upon forming such committees,heads of agencies shall submit informa-tion to the Secretary concerning theexistence, location, and coverage, interms of establishments and popu-lation, of such committees, certifyingto the Secretary that such committeesmeet the requirements of this subpart.The information submitted should in-clude the name and telephone numbersof the chairperson of each committee,and should be updated annually as partof the annual report required by§ 1960.74 to reflect any changes thatmay have occurred.

(b) If, upon evaluation, the Secretarydetermines that the operations of acommittee do not meet the require-ments of this subpart, the Secretaryshall notify the agency and identifythe deficiencies to be remedied. If theagency does not satisfy the Secretarywithin 90 days that the committeemeets the requirements of this subpart,the committee shall not be deemed acommittee under Executive Order 12196and this part.

[45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980; 45 FR 77003, Nov.21, 1980, as amended at 49 FR 3080, Jan. 24,1984]

§ 1960.39 Agency responsibilities.

(a) Agencies shall make available tocommittees all agency information rel-evant and necessary to their duties, ex-cept where prohibited by law. Exam-ples of such information include, butare not limited to: The agency’s safetyand health policies and program;human and financial resources avail-able to implement the program; acci-dent, injury, and illness data; epide-miological data; employee exposuremonitoring data; Material Safety DataSheets; inspection reports; reprisal in-vestigation reports; abatement plans;NIOSH hazard evaluation reports; andinternal and external evaluation re-ports.

(b) Agencies shall provide all com-mittee members appropriate trainingas required by subpart H of this part.

§ 1960.40 Establishment committee du-ties.

(a) The safety and health committeeis an integral part of the safety andhealth program, and helps ensure effec-tive implementation of the program atthe establishment level.

(b) An establishment committeeformed under this subpart shall, exceptwhere prohibited by law:

(1) Monitor and assist the safety andhealth program at establishmentsunder its jurisdiction and make rec-ommendations to the official in chargeon the operation of the program;

(2) Monitor findings and reports ofworkplace inspections to confirm thatappropriate corrective measures areimplemented;

(3) When requested by the agencySafety and Health Official, or when thecommittee deems it necessary for ef-fective monitoring of agency establish-ment inspection procedures, partici-pate in inspections of the establish-ment;

(4) Review internal and external eval-uation reports and make recommenda-tions concerning the establishmentsafety and health program;

(5) Review, and recommend changes,as appropriate, to procedures for han-dling safety and health suggestions andrecommendations from employees;

(6) When requested by the DesignatedAgency Safety and Health Official, orwhen the committee deems it nec-essary, comment on standards proposedpursuant to the provisions of subpart Cof this part;

(7) Monitor and recommend changes,as required, in the level of resources al-located and spent on the establishmentsafety and health program;

(8) Review agency responses to re-ports of hazardous conditions, safetyand health program deficiencies, andallegations of reprisal;

(9) Report their dissatisfaction to theSecretary if half a committee deter-mines there are deficiencies in the es-tablishment’s safety and health pro-gram or is not satisfied with the agen-cy’s reports of reprisal investigations;and

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(10) Request the Secretary to conductan evaluation or inspection if half themembers of record are not satisfiedwith an agency’s response to a reportof hazardous working conditions.

§ 1960.41 National committee duties.National committees established

under this subpart shall, except whereprohibited by law:

(a) Monitor performance of the agen-cy safety and health program andmake policy recommendations to thehead of the agency on the operation ofthe program;

(b) Monitor and assist in the develop-ment and operation of the agency’s es-tablishment committees. As the com-mittee deems appropriate, monitor andreview: Reports of inspections; internaland external evaluation reports; agen-cy safety and health training pro-grams; proposed agency standards;agency plans for abating hazards; andresponses to reports of hazardous con-ditions; safety and health program de-ficiencies; and allegations of reprisal;

(c) Monitor and recommend changesin the resources allocated to the entireagency safety and health program;

(d) Report their dissatisfaction to theSecretary if half a committee deter-mines there are deficiencies in theagency’s safety and health program oris not satisfied with the agency’s re-ports of reprisal investigations; and

(e) Request the Secretary to conductan evaluation or inspection if half themembers of record are not satisfiedwith an agency’s response to a reportof hazardous working conditions.

Subpart G—Allegations of Reprisal§ 1960.46 Agency responsibility.

(a) The head of each agency shall es-tablish procedures to assure that noemployee is subject to restraint, inter-ference, coercion, discrimination or re-prisal for filing a report of an unsafe orunhealthful working condition, orother participation in agency occupa-tional safety and health program ac-tivities, or because of the exercise bysuch employee on behalf of himself orherself or others of any right affordedby section 19 of the Act, ExecutiveOrder 12196, or this part. These rightsinclude, among other, the right of an

employee to decline to perform his orher assigned task because of a reason-able belief that, under the cir-cumstances the task poses an immi-nent risk of death or serious bodilyharm coupled with a reasonable beliefthat there is insufficient time to seekeffective redress through normal haz-ard reporting and abatement proce-dures established in accordance withthis part.

(b) Based on the Secretary’s evalua-tion of agencies’ procedures for pro-tecting employees from reprisal, theSecretary shall report to the Presidentby September 30, 1982 his findings andrecommendations for improvements inprocedures for the investigation andresolution of allegations of reprisal.

§ 1960.47 Results of investigations.Each agency shall keep occupational

safety and health committees advisedof agency activity regarding allega-tions of reprisal and any agency deter-minations thereof. Agency officialsshall provide copies of reprisal inves-tigation findings, if any, to the Sec-retary and to the appropriate safetyand health committee.

Subpart H—Training§ 1960.54 Training of top management

officials.Each agency shall provide top man-

agement officials with orientation andother learning experiences which willenable them to manage the occupa-tional safety and health programs oftheir agencies. Such orientation shouldinclude coverage of section 19 of theAct, Executive Order 12196, the require-ments of this part, and the agency safe-ty and health program.

§ 1960.55 Training of supervisors.(a) Each agency shall provide occupa-

tional safety and health training forsupervisory employees that includes:supervisory responsibility for providingand maintaining safe and healthfulworking conditions for employees, theagency occupational safety and healthprogram, section 19 of the Act, Execu-tive Order 12196, this part, occupationalsafety and health standards applicableto the assigned workplaces, agencyprocedures for reporting hazards, agen-

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cy procedures for reporting and inves-tigating allegations of reprisal, andagency procedures for the abatement ofhazards, as well as other appropriaterules and regulations.

(b) This supervisory training shouldinclude introductory and specializedcourses and materials which will en-able supervisors to recognize and elimi-nate, or reduce, occupational safetyand health hazards in their workingunits. Such training shall also includethe development of requisite skills inmanaging the agency’s safety andhealth program within the work unit,including the training and motivationof subordinates toward assuring safeand healthful work practices.

§ 1960.56 Training of safety and healthspecialists.

(a) Each agency shall provide occupa-tional safety and health training forsafety and health specialists throughcourses, laboratory experiences, fieldstudy, and other formal learning expe-riences to prepare them to perform thenecessary technical monitoring, con-sulting, testing, inspecting, designing,and other tasks related to program de-velopment and implementation, as wellas hazard recognition, evaluation andcontrol, equipment and facility design,standards, analysis of accident, injury,and illness data, and other relatedtasks.

(b) Each agency shall implement ca-reer development programs for theiroccupational safety and health special-ists to enable the staff to meet presentand future program needs of the agen-cy.

§ 1960.57 Training of safety and healthinspectors.

Each agency shall provide trainingfor safety and health inspectors withrespect to appropriate standards, andthe use of appropriate equipment andtesting procedures necessary to iden-tify and evaluate hazards and suggestgeneral abatement procedures duringor following their assigned inspections,as well as preparation of reports andother documentation to support the in-spection findings.

§ 1960.58 Training of collateral dutysafety and health personnel andcommittee members.

Within six months after October 1,1980, or on appointment of an employeeto a collateral duty position or to acommittee, each agency shall providetraining for collateral duty safety andhealth personnel and all members ofcertified occupational safety andhealth committees commensurate withthe scope of their assigned responsibil-ities. Such training shall include: Theagency occupational safety and healthprogram; section 19 of the Act; Execu-tive Order 12196; this part; agency pro-cedures for the reporting, evaluationand abatement of hazards; agency pro-cedures for reporting and investigatingallegations of reprisal, the recognitionof hazardous conditions and environ-ments; identification and use of occu-pational safety and health standards,and other appropriate rules and regula-tions.

§ 1960.59 Training of employees andemployee representatives.

(a) Each agency shall provide appro-priate safety and health training foremployees including specialized jobsafety and health training appropriateto the work performed by the em-ployee, for example: Clerical; printing;welding; crane operation; chemicalanalysis, and computer operations.Such training also shall inform em-ployees of the agency occupationalsafety and health program, with em-phasis on their rights and responsibil-ities.

(b) Occupational safety and healthtraining for employees of the agencywho are representatives of employeegroups, such as labor organizationswhich are recognized by the agency,shall include both introductory andspecialized courses and materials thatwill enable such groups to function ap-propriately in ensuring safe andhealthful working conditions and prac-tices in the workplace and enable themto effectively assist in conductingworkplace safety and health inspec-tions. Nothing in this paragraph shallbe construed to alter training provi-sions provided by law, Executive Order,or collective bargaining arrangements.

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§ 1960.60 Training assistance.(a) Agency heads may seek training

assistance from the Secretary of Labor,the National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health and other appro-priate sources.

(b) After the effective date of Execu-tive Order 12196, the Secretary shall,upon request and with reimbursement,conduct orientation for DesignatedAgency Safety and Health Officialsand/or their designees which will en-able them to manage the occupationalsafety and health programs of theiragencies. Such orientation shall in-clude coverage of section 19 of the Act,Executive Order 12196, and the require-ments of this part.

(c) Upon request and with reimburse-ment, the Department of Labor shallprovide each agency with training ma-terials to assist in fulfilling the train-ing needs of this subpart, includingresident and field training courses de-signed to meet selected training needsof agency safety and health specialists,safety and health inspectors, and col-lateral duty safety and health person-nel. These materials and courses in noway reduce each agency’s responsibil-ity to provide whatever specializedtraining is required by the unique char-acteristics of its work.

(d) In cooperation with OPM, theSecretary will develop guidelines and/or provide materials for the safety andhealth training programs for high-levelmanagers, supervisors, members ofcommittees, and employee representa-tives.

Subpart I—Recordkeeping andReporting Requirements

SOURCE: 50 FR 40269, Oct. 2, 1985, unlessotherwise noted.

§ 1960.66 Purpose, scope and generalprovisions.

(a) The purpose of this subpart is toestablish uniform requirements for thecollection and compilation by agenciesof occupational safety and health data,for proper evaluation and necessarycorrective action and to assist the Sec-retary in meeting the requirement todevelop and maintain an effective pro-gram of collection, compilation, andanalysis of occupational safety and

health statistics. The term ‘‘incident’’as hereinafter used in this subpartshall include all occupational injuriesand illnesses.

(b) In order to perform his dutiesunder Section 19 of the Act and Execu-tive Order 12196, particularly with re-spect to providing the President withcurrent information about the Federalagency safety and health program, it isnecessary that the Secretary bepromptly informed of serious incidentsinvolving agency employees as pro-vided in § 1960.70. Assistance to agen-cies in the investigation of such inci-dents is available pursuant to the pro-visions of Executive Order 12196 andthis subpart.

(c) Each agency shall utilize the in-formation collected through its man-agement information system to iden-tify unsafe and unhealthful workingconditions, and to establish programpriorities.

(d) The Department of Labor shallprovide Federal agencies with theOSHA Form 101, when requested, tomeet the recordkeeping specified in§ 1960.68.

(e) The provisions of this subpart arenot intended to discourage agenciesfrom utilizing recordkeeping and re-porting forms which contain a more de-tailed breakdown of information thanthe form provided by the Departmentof Labor.

(f) Retention and access of employeerecord shall be in accordance with 29CFR 1910.20.

(g) Information concerning occupa-tional injuries and illnesses or acci-dents which, pursuant to statute or Ex-ecutive Order, must be kept secret inthe interest of national defense or for-eign policy shall be recorded on sepa-rate forms. Such records shall not besubmitted to the Department of Labor,but may be used by the appropriateFederal agency in evaluating the agen-cy’s program to reduce occupationalinjuries, illnesses and accidents.

[50 FR 40269, Oct. 2, 1985, as amended at 60 FR34852, July 5, 1995]

§ 1960.67 Log of occupational injuriesand illnesses.

(a) Each Federal agency shall main-tain a log of all occupational injuriesand illnesses specified in § 1960.67(c) for

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each establishment. Except as providedin § 1960.71 (b) and (c), the log is to bemaintained at the establishment.

(b) Within six working days after re-ceiving information of an occupationalinjury or illness, apporpriate informa-tion concerning such injury or illnessshall be entered on the log. The formatprinted in OSHA publication 2014 or anagency form with at least the same 12data elements shall be used for the log.

(c) Any occupational injury, illnessor fatality reported on a CA–1, CA–2, orCA–6 to OWCP shall be reported on thelog.

[51 FR 28378, Aug. 7, 1986]

§ 1960.68 Supplementary record of oc-cupational injuries and illnesses.

In addition to the log of occupationalinjuries and illnesses provided forunder § 1960.67, each Federal agencyshall maintain a supplementary recordfor each occupational injury and ill-ness. The record shall be completedwithin six working days after the re-ceipt of information that an occupa-tional injury or illness has occurred.Each Federal agency shall completeOWCP Forms CA–1, CA–2, and CA–6 inthe detail required by the forms and in-structions provided by the Secretary(OSHA–2014), and may be used as thesupplementary record. OSHA Form No.101 or an agency equivalent may beused as a supplementary record. WhereOWCP forms are used as supplementaryrecords, copies shall be maintained inthe occupational safety and/or healthoffice.

[51 FR 28379, Aug. 7, 1986]

§ 1960.69 Annual summaries of Federaloccupational injuries and illnesses.

(a) Each Federal agency, on a fiscalyear basis, shall compile an annualsummary of occupational injuries andillnesses as prescribed in OSHA publi-cation 2014. The summaries shall bebased on the log of occupational inju-ries and illnesses maintained pursuantto § 1960.67.

(b) At the agency’s option, and con-sistent with the Privacy Act consider-ations and applicable collective bar-gaining agreements, the last page ofthe log of occupational injuries and ill-nesses may be posted as the annual

summary of Federal occupational inju-ries and illnesses.

[51 FR 28379, Aug. 7, 1986]

§ 1960.70 Reporting of serious acci-dents.

(a) Within 8 hours after the death ofany employee from a work-related inci-dent or the in-patient hospitalizationof three or more employees as a resultof a work-related incident, the FederalAgency head or his/her designee shallorally report the fatality/multiple hos-pitalization by telephone or in personto the Area Office of the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration(OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor,that is nearest to the site of the inci-dent, or by using the OSHA toll-freecentral telephone number.

(b) This requirement applies to eachsuch fatality or hospitalization ofthree or more employees which occurswithin thirty (30) days of an incident.

(c) Exception: If the Federal AgencyHead or designee does not learn of a re-portable incident at the time it occursand the incident would otherwise be re-portable under paragraphs (a) and (b) ofthis section, the Federal Agency Heador designee shall make the report with-in 8 hours of the time the incident isreported to any agent or employee ofthe employer.

(d) Each report required by this sec-tion shall relate the following informa-tion: Establishment name; location ofincident; time of the incident; numberof fatalities or hospitalized employees;contact person; phone number; and abrief description of the incident.

(e) Agencies shall provide the Officeof Federal Agency Programs with asummary report of each fatal and cata-strophic accident investigation. Thesummaries shall address the date/timeof accident, agency/establishmentname and location, and consequences,description of operation and the acci-dent, causal factors, applicable stand-ards and their effectiveness, and agen-cy corrective/preventive actions.[60 FR 18994, Apr. 14, 1995]

§ 1960.71 Locations and utilization ofrecords and reports.

(a) The provisions of the section,dealing with the availability of infor-mation compiled pursuant to this sub-

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part, are designed to guide agencies inproviding agency employees and theirrepresentatives with the basic informa-tion necessary to assure that they canactively participate in an agency safe-ty and health program. The provisionsof this section are also designed to en-courage agencies to allow agency safe-ty and health inspectors to have directaccess to the accident, injury and ill-ness records of the establishments theyare inspecting in order that they maybetter carry out their duties pursuantto subpart D of this part.

(b) The log and supplementary recordrequired by § 1960.67 and § 1960.68 shallbe maintained at each establishment.Where, for reasons of efficient adminis-tration or practicality, an agency mustmaintain this record at a place otherthan at each establishment, such agen-cy shall ensure that there is availableat each establishment a copy of thisrecord. This record shall be completeand as current as possible; in no caseshall more than 3 months elapse be-tween the recording of an illness or in-jury occurring in an establishment andthe availability of records reflectingthat injury or illness at that establish-ment.

(c)(1) For agencies engaged in activi-ties such as agriculture, construction,transportation, communication, andelectric, gas and sanitary services,which may be physically dispersed, thelog and supplementary records, or cop-ies thereof, may be maintained at aplace to which employees report eachday.

(2) For personnel who do not pri-marily report or work at a single es-tablishment, and who are generally notsupervised in their daily work, such astraveling employees, technicians, engi-neers, etc., the log and supplementaryrecords, or copies thereof, may bemaintained at the base from which per-sonnel operate to carry out their ac-tivities.

(d) Each Federal agency shall post acopy of its agency annual summary ofFederal occupational injuries and ill-nesses for an establishment, as com-piled pursuant to §§ 1960.67 or 1960.69, atsuch establishment, not later than 45calendar days after the close of the fis-cal year or otherwise disseminate acopy of the annual summary for an es-

tablishment in written form to all em-ployees of the establishment. Copies ofthe annual summary shall be posted fora minimum of 30 consecutive days in aconspicuous place or places in the es-tablishment where notices to employ-ees are customarily posted. Where es-tablishment activities are physicallydispersed, the notice may be posted atthe location to which employees reporteach day. Where employees do not pri-marily work at or report to a single lo-cation, the notice may be posted at thelocation from which the employees op-erate to carry out their activities.Each Federal agency shall take nec-essary steps to ensure that such sum-mary is not altered, defaced, or coveredby other material.

(e) The head of each agency shall en-sure access to establishment logs andannual summaries by the establish-ment’s Occupational Safety and HealthCommittees, employees, former em-ployees and employee representatives.

[50 FR 40269, Oct. 2, 1985, as amended at 51 FR28379, Aug. 7, 1986]

§ 1960.72 Access to records by Sec-retary.

The records required to be main-tained under the provisions of this sub-part shall also be available and madeaccessible to the Secretary of Labor,Secretary of Health and Human Serv-ices and their authorized representa-tive.

§ 1960.73 Retention of records.The records and reports required to

be maintained under the provisions ofthis subpart shall be retained by eachagency for five years following the endof the fiscal year to which they relate,and any location including a Federalrecord retention center, to which theSecretary or his authorized representa-tive would have reasonable access. Inaddition, records required by OSHAstandards shall be retained in accord-ance with those standards.

§ 1960.74 Agency annual reports.(a) The Act and E.O. 12196 require all

Federal agency heads to submit to theSecretary an annual report on theiragency’s occupational safety andhealth program, containing such infor-mation as the Secretary prescribes.

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(1) Each agency shall submit to theSecretary by January 1 of each year areport describing the agency occupa-tional safety and health program of theprevious fiscal year and objectives forthe current year. The report shall in-clude a summary of the agency’s self-evaluation findings as required by§ 1960.78(b).

(2) Guidelines for agency annual re-ports to OSHA are prescribed in OSHApublication 2014. The Secretary shallnotify agencies by January 1 of anychanges to the guidelines for the subse-quent year’s report.

(3) The agency reports shall be usedin the preparation of the Secretary’sreport to the President.

(b) The Secretary shall submit to thePresident by October 1 of each year asummary report of the status of the oc-cupational safety and health of Federalemployees, based on agency reports,evaluations of individual agencyprogress and problems in correctingunsafe or unhealthful working condi-tions, and recommendations for im-proving their performance.

§§ 1960.75–1960.77 [Reserved]

Subpart J—Evaluation of FederalOccupational Safety andHealth Programs

§ 1960.78 Purpose and scope.(a) The purpose of this subpart is to

establish a comprehensive program forthe evaluation of Federal employee oc-cupational safety and health programs.This subpart includes the responsibil-ities of agency heads in conductingself-evaluations of the effectiveness oftheir occupational safety and healthprograms, and the responsibilities ofthe Secretary in evaluating the extentto which each agency head has devel-oped and implemented agency pro-grams in accordance with the require-ments of Executive Order 12196 and thispart.

(b) Agency heads shall develop andimplement a program for evaluatingthe effectiveness of their agency’s oc-cupational safety and health program.An annual summary report shall besubmitted to the Secretary coveringself-evaluations conducted during theprevious year.

(c) The Secretary shall conduct acomprehensive evaluation of each Fed-eral agency’s occupational safety andhealth program. Evaluations shall beconducted on a regular schedule to de-termine the performance levels of eachagency’s program. The Secretary shallsubmit to the President each year: Asummary report of the status of the oc-cupational safety and health of Federalemployees; Department of Labor eval-uations, together with agency re-sponses, of individual agency progressand problems in correcting unsafe andunhealthful working conditions, andrecommendations for improving agen-cy’s performance.

§ 1960.79 Self-evaluations of occupa-tional safety and health programs.

Agency heads shall develop and im-plement a program of self-evaluationsto determine the effectiveness of theiroccupational safety and health pro-grams. The self-evaluations are to in-clude qualitative assessments of theextent to which their agency safetyand health programs are:

(a) Developed in accordance with therequirements set forth in ExecutiveOrder 12196 and this part and,

(b) Implemented effectively in allagency field activities.Agencies needing assistance in develop-ing a self-evaluation program shouldcontact the Secretary.

§ 1960.80 Secretary’s evaluations ofagency occupational safety andhealth programs.

(a) In accordance with section 1–401(h), the Secretary shall develop acomprehensive program for evaluatingan agency’s occupational safety andhealth program. To accomplish this,the Secretary shall conduct:

(1) A complete and extensive evalua-tion of all elements of an agency’s oc-cupational safety and health programon a regular basis;

(2) Special studies of limited areas ofan agency’s occupational safety andhealth program as deemed necessary bythe Secretary; and

(3) Field reviews and scheduled in-spections of agency workplaces asdeemed necessary by the Secretary.

(b) The Secretary shall develop anddistribute to Federal agencies detailed

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information on the Department of La-bor’s evaluation program. The informa-tion shall include, but is not limitedto:

(1) The major program elements in-cluded in a complete and extensiveevaluation of an agency’s occupationalsafety and health program;

(2) The methods and factors used todetermine the effectiveness of each ele-ment of an agency’s program;

(3) The factors used to define ‘‘large’’or ‘‘more hazardous’’ Federal agencies,establishments, or operations;

(4) The procedures for conductingevaluations including field visits andscheduled inspections; and

(5) The reporting format for agencyheads in submitting annual summariesof their self-evaluation programs.

(c) Prior to the initiation of an agen-cy evaluation, the Department ofLabor will review the annual agencyself-evaluation summary report. TheSecretary will then develop a programevaluation plan before the initiation ofan agency evaluation. A copy of theplan shall be furnished to the agency tobe evaluated at the time of the notifi-cation of the evaluation.

(d) To facilitate the evaluation proc-ess and to insure full understanding ofthe procedures to be followed and thesupport required from the agency, theSecretary, or the Secretary’s rep-resentative, shall conduct an openingconference with the agency head ordesignee. At the opening conference,the Secretary’s authority and evalua-tion plan will be explained.

(e) The agency evaluation should becompleted within 90 calendar days ofthe date of the opening conference.

(f) A report of the evaluation shall besubmitted to the agency head by theSecretary within 90 calendar days fromthe date of the closing conference.

(g) Agency heads shall respond to theevaluation report within 60 calendardays of receipt of the report.

[45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980; 45 FR 77003, Nov.21, 1980]

Subpart K—Field Federal Safetyand Health Councils

§ 1960.84 Purpose.(a) Executive Order 12196 provides

that the Secretary shall ‘‘facilitate the

exchange of ideas and informationthroughout the Government about oc-cupational safety and health.’’

(b) Consistent with this objective,the Secretary will continue to sponsorand/or provide guidance for those FieldFederal Safety and Health Councilsnow established and in operation, andestablish new field councils as nec-essary. The field councils will consistprimarily of qualified representativesof local area Federal field activitieswhose duties pertain to occupationalsafety and health, and also of rep-resentatives of recognized local labororganizations, or other civilian em-ployee organizations, at local area Fed-eral field activities. For the purpose ofthis subpart the definition of field ac-tivity will be provided by each agency.

§ 1960.85 Role of the Secretary.

(a) The Secretary shall maintain liai-son with agency heads to ensure thatthey encourage their field activities toparticipate actively in field councilprograms. To ensure maximum partici-pation, the field councils’ annual re-ports to the Secretary shall provide de-scriptions of the degree of managementand employee participation by the de-fined Federal field activities. The Sec-retary shall annually furnish eachagency head with a report consolidat-ing the information received as to theparticipation of the agency’s severalfield installations in field council ac-tivities.

(b) The Secretary shall provide lead-ership and guidance and make avail-able necessary equipment, supplies,and staff services to the Field FederalSafety and Health Councils to assistthem in carrying out their responsibil-ities. The Secretary shall also provideconsultative and technical services tofield councils. These services shall in-volve aid in any phase of developingand planning programs; and in sponsor-ing, conducting or supporting safetyand health training courses.

§ 1960.86 Establishing councils.

(a) Those field councils establishedand in operation prior to the effectivedate of this subpart will continue tofunction without interruption providedthey are operating in accordance with

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the provision of their charter and thissubpart.

(b) The Secretary may establish acouncil in any area where ten or moreFederal establishments totaling 300 ormore employees are located within anarea having a radius of 50 miles, andthere is substantial agreement amongthe agencies that such a council wouldbe useful. In any such area where thereis no council already established, afield representative of the Secretarymay, upon his own initiative or at therequest of any establishment withinthe area, contact representatives of allestablishments within the area and en-courage the organization of a fieldcouncil.

(c) After a new council has been orga-nized, officers elected, and articles oforganization drafted and accepted bythe council membership, a formal re-quest for recognition as a field councilshall be sent to the Secretary. Uponapproval of the Articles of Organiza-tion, a charter will be issued.

(d) At the first general meeting ofthe council, committees should be ap-pointed and the cooperation of all par-ticipants should be solicited to aid thefunctioning of committees and the suc-cessful accomplishment of the coun-cil’s objectives.

§ 1960.87 Objectives.The basic objective of field councils

is to facilitate the exchange of ideasand information to assist agencies toreduce the incidence, severity and costof occupational accidents, injuries, andillnesses. Field councils shall act onbehalf of the Secretary or his designeeson occupational safety and health ac-tivities in carrying out within their re-spective geographic areas the followingfunctions:

(a) To act as a clearinghouse on in-formation and data on occupational ac-cidents, injuries, and illnesses andtheir prevention.

(b) To plan, organize and conductfield council meetings or programswhich will give technical advice and in-formation on occupational safety andhealth to representatives of participat-ing agencies and employee organiza-tions.

(c) To promote improvement of safe-ty and health programs and organiza-

tions in each Federal agency rep-resented or participating in council ac-tivities.

(d) To promote coordination, co-operation, and sharing of resources andexpertise to aid agencies with inad-equate or limited resources. These ob-jectives can be accomplished in a vari-ety of ways. For example, field coun-cils could organize and conduct train-ing programs for employee representa-tives, collateral duty and professionalsafety and health personnel, coordinateor promote programs for inspections,or, on request, conduct inspections andevaluations of the agencies’ safety andhealth programs.

(e) To provide Federal ExecutiveBoards, Federal Executive Associa-tions, labor union organizations andother employee representatives withinformation on the administrative andtechnical aspects of safety and healthprograms.

(f) To evaluate the safety and healthproblems peculiar to local conditionsand facilitate solutions to these prob-lems through council activities.

(g) To develop a cooperative relation-ship with local community leaders byinforming them of the existing func-tions and objectives of the council andby calling on them for support and par-ticipation in council meetings and ac-tivities.

§ 1960.88 Membership and participa-tion.

(a) Each field council shall consist ofthe designated representatives of localFederal activities appointed by theirrespective activity heads, after con-sultation with appropriate employeerepresentatives and appropriate cer-tified safety and health committees.

(b) Federal agency heads should en-courage each field activity having re-sponsibility for the safety and healthof agency employees to participate inthe programs of these councils.

(c) Each activity head shall appointan equal number of officially des-ignated representatives (with des-ignated alternates), from managementand from nonmanagement employees,consistent with applicable collectivebargaining arrangements.

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(d) Representatives shall be selectedfrom individuals in the following cat-egories:

(1) Federal occupational safety andhealth professionals.

(2) Related Federal professionals, orcollateral duty personnel. This in-cludes persons employed in professionsor occupations related to or concernedwith safety and health of employees.

(3) Line management officials.(4) Representatives of recognized

Federal labor or other employee orga-nizations.

(i) Where certified occupational safe-ty and health committees exist, non-management members of the commit-tees shall be given the opportunity toselect one individual for official ap-pointment to field councils by the ac-tivity head.

(ii) Where employees are representedby collective bargaining arrangements,but no committee exists, nonmanage-ment members of field councils shall beselected from among those rec-ommended by the exclusive bargainingrepresentatives for official appoint-ment to field councils by the activityhead.

(iii) Where some employees in an ac-tivity are represented by collectivebargaining arrangements and othersare not, the agency head should solicitnominations for the agency’s des-ignated nonmanagement representa-tive and alternate both from lawfullabor organization(s) with collectivebargaining status and from employeesnot represented through collective bar-gaining and should select from thenominees for official appointment asdesignated employee representativeson the field council.

(e) Representatives from non-Federalorganizations. Associate membershipmay be granted to any non-Federallyemployed person who demonstrated in-terest in occupational safety andhealth. An associate member has novoting rights and may not hold any of-fice.

(f) No maximum limitation shall beimposed by a council on itself, in re-gard to the numbers of personnel inany of the above categories that mayattend meetings and/or participate infield council activities. An agency isfree to have any number of individuals,

in addition to the officially designatedrepresentatives participate in councilactivities.

(g) Only officially designated agencyrepresentatives or their alternatesshall have voting privileges. All rep-resentatives and participants shallserve without additional compensation.

(h) Travel funds shall be made avail-able equally to management andnonmanagement employee representa-tives.

§ 1960.89 Organization.(a) Field council officers shall in-

clude, as a minimum, a chairperson,vice chairperson, and secretary. Offi-cers shall be elected for a one or two-year term on a calendar year basis bya majority vote of the designated rep-resentatives. Election of officers shallbe held at least 60 days before the be-ginning of a calendar year. The elec-tion may be conducted at a regularlyscheduled meeting or by letter ballot.

(b) Each council shall notify the ap-propriate OSHA Regional Office andthe Office of Federal Agency Safetyand Health Programs of the name,agency address, and telephone numberof each newly elected official.

(c) Each council shall have an Execu-tive Committee consisting of all elect-ed officers, chairpersons of appointedcommittees and the immediate pastchairperson of the field council.

(d) In addition to the Executive Com-mittee, each council shall have either amembership committee, a programcommittee and a finance committee, ora council official designated respon-sibility in these areas. Additional com-mittees may be appointed by the chair-person for specific purposes as war-ranted.

§ 1960.90 Operating procedures.(a) The Executive Committee of each

council shall meet at least 45 days be-fore the beginning of each calendaryear to approve an annual program forthe council designed to accomplish theobjectives and functions stated in§ 1960.87. In addition, the ExecutiveCommittee shall meet periodically toensure that the meetings and other ac-tivities of the council are being con-ducted as outlined in the council sched-ule.

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(b) The council program shall includeat least four meetings or activities peryear dealing with occupational safetyand health issues.

(c) Each field council shall submit tothe Secretary or his designee by March15 of each year a report describing theactivities and programs of the previouscalender year and plans for the currentyear. In addition, the report shall ad-dress the participation and attendanceof designated representatives of thecouncil. The Office of Federal AgencySafety and Health Programs, OSHA,shall furnish guidelines to field coun-cils concerning the preparation of thisreport.

(d) Upon determination that a coun-cil is not operating in accordance withits charter and the provisions of thissubpart, and after consultation withappropriate OSHA regional officials,the Secretary shall revoke the coun-cil’s charter. Upon revocation of acharter, the council shall surrender allits government property to the appro-priate OSHA regional official. Any con-tinuing or future organization in thesame geographical area shall not usethe title Field Federal Safety andHealth Council, or any derivationthereof, unless formally rechartered bythe Secretary. Notification of revoca-tion of a council’s charter shall be sentto the chairperson, where identifiable,and to the appropriate OSHA RegionalOffice.

PART 1975—COVERAGE OF EM-PLOYERS UNDER THE WILLIAMS-STEIGER OCCUPATIONAL SAFETYAND HEALTH ACT OF 1970

Sec.1975.1 Purpose and scope.1975.2 Basis of authority.1975.3 Extent of coverage.1975.4 Coverage.1975.5 States and political subdivisions

thereof.1975.6 Policy as to domestic household em-

ployment activities in private resi-dences.

AUTHORITY: Secs. 2, 3, 4, 8, OccupationalSafety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651,652, 653, 657); Secretary of Labor’s Order No.12–71 (36 FR 8754).

SOURCE: 37 FR 929, Jan. 21, 1972, unless oth-erwise noted.

§ 1975.1 Purpose and scope.(a) Among other things, the Wil-

liams-Steiger Act poses certain dutieson employers. This part has the limitedpurpose and scope of clarifying whichpersons are considered to be employerseither as a matter of interpretation ofthe intent and terms of the Act or as amatter of policy appropriate to admin-istering and enforcing the Act. Inshort, the purpose and scope of thispart is to indicate which persons arecovered by the Act as employers and,as such, subject to the requirements ofthe Act.

(b) It is not the purpose of this partto indicate the legal effect of the Act,once coverage is determined. Section4(b)(1) of the Act provides that thestatute shall be inapplicable to work-ing conditions to the extent they aresubject to another Federal agency’s ex-ercise of different statutory authorityaffecting the occupational safety andhealth aspects of those conditions.Therefore, a person may be consideredan employer covered by the Act, andyet standards issued under the Act re-specting certain working conditionswould not be applicable to the extentthose conditions were subject to an-other agency’s authority.

§ 1975.2 Basis of authority.The power of Congress to regulate

employment conditions under the Wil-liams-Steiger Occupational Safety andHealth Act of 1970, is derived mainlyfrom the Commerce Clause of the Con-stitution. (section 2(b), Pub. L. 91–596;U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3;‘‘United States v. Darby,’’ 312 U.S. 100.)The reach of the Commerce Clause ex-tends beyond Federal regulation of thechannels and instrumentalities ofinterstate commerce so as to empowerCongress to regulate conditions or ac-tivities which affect commerce eventhough the activity or condition mayitself not be commerce and may bepurely intrastate in character. (‘‘Gib-bons v. Ogden,’’ 9 Wheat. 1, 195; ‘‘UnitedStates v. Darby,’’ supra; ‘‘Wickard v.Filburn, 317 U.S. 111, 117; and ‘‘Perez v.United States,’’ 91 S. Ct. 1357 (1971).)And it is not necessary to prove thatany particular intrastate activity af-fects commerce, if the activity is in-cluded in a class of activities which

29 cfr 1960 - assistant secretary of the army · december 29, 1989. (j) in accordance with 29 cfr...

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