{"data":{"id":"us/42-cfr-85a.2","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"42 CFR 85a.2","heading":"a.2 Definitions.","body":"Any term defined in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 or the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and not defined below shall have the meaning given it in the Acts. As used in this part:\nAssistant Regional Director means any one of the ten Occupational Safety and Health Administration Assistant Regional Directors for Occupational Safety and Health.\nEmployee has the same meaning as stated in the OSH Act and for the purposes of this part includes miner as defined in the FMSH Act.\nEmployer has the same meaning as stated in the OSH Act and for the purposes of this part includes operator as defined in the FMSH Act.\nFMSH Act means the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).\nInformed consent means the knowing consent of an individual or his legally authorized representative, so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice without undue inducement or any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or coercion. The basic elements of information necessary to such consent include:\n(1) A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, and their purposes, including identification of any procedures which are experimental;\n(2) A description of any attendant discomforts and risks reasonably to be expected;\n(3) A description of any benefits reasonably to be expected;\n(4) A disclosure of any appropriate alternative procedures that might be advantageous for the subject;\n(5) An offer to answer any inquiries concerning the procedures; and\n(6) An instruction that the person is free to withdraw his consent and to discontinue participation in the investigation any time without prejudice to the subject.\nInvestigation means research projects, experiments, demonstrations, studies, and similar activities of NIOSH which are conducted under section 20 of the OSH Act and section 501 of the FMSH Act.\nLegally authorized representative means an individual or judicial or other body authorized under applicable law to consent on behalf of a prospective subject to such subject's participation in the particular activity or procedure.\nMSHA District Office means any one of the Mine Safety and Health Administration's District Offices.\nNIOSH means the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services.\nNIOSH authorized representative means a person authorized by NIOSH to conduct investigations of places of employment, including any person that is fulfilling a contract agreement with NIOSH or is serving as an expert or consultant to NIOSH pursuant to the Act.\nOSH Act means the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).\nPlace of employment means any coal or other mine, factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed by any employee of an employer.","path":["Title 42—Public Health","CHAPTER I—PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","SUBCHAPTER G—OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES","PART 85a—OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH INVESTIGATIONS OF PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-42.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:11Z","sha256":"791fba680db533cb6afc7f1c6226c990ae05fd058a6031954508c8c1be689d6a","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/42-cfr-85a.1","next":"us/42-cfr-85a.3"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}