[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 239 (Monday, December 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68772-68773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33035]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[INFO-99-05]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports 
Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques for other 
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.

1. Proposed Project

    Evaluating the Effectiveness of Tailored Occupational Safety and 
Health Information on the World Wide Web: Increasing Knowledge and 
Changing Behavior of Residential Building Construction Contractors--
New--The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH)--Workers in the construction industry face higher than normal 
risks of fatal injury, nonfatal injury, and illness resulting from on-
the-job exposures. According to the National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), during the period from 1980 through 1992, 
construction had the highest number of deaths resulting from workplace 
injury--over 14,000 deaths, or more than 1,000 deaths per year. 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Center to 
Protect Workers' Rights (CPWR), construction had the highest number of 
deaths resulting from injury (1,039) and the third highest rate of 
fatal injury (13.9 deaths per 100,000 workers) in 1996.
    The majority of construction companies are very small. According to 
Dun and Bradstreet, 96% of residential building contractors employ less 
than 15 workers on average; over 80% employ less than 5 workers. In 
general, small companies have insufficient resources to identify and 
apply risk and prevention information relevant to their operations. 
According to a recent study (conducted by NIOSH), lack of tailored, 
relevant, and timely occupational safety and health information is a 
major barrier identified by small construction contractors.
    The goals of this investigation are to: 1) explore the 
effectiveness of tailored safety and health information that is 
developed based on the individual contractor's construction specialties 
and specific operations, as well as the contractor's psychosocial 
factors; and 2) explore the effectiveness of the Internet World Wide 
Web as a mechanism for delivering tailored safety and health 
information. Specifically, the goal of this data collection is to 
compare the effectiveness of tailored Internet messages (based on 
interactive Internet and computer-tailoring technologies), non-tailored 
Internet messages (based on current static, menu-driven, non-
interactive models), tailored print messages delivered by direct mail, 
and non-tailored print messages delivered by direct mail in influencing 
changes in safety- and health-related knowledge, intentions, and 
behaviors. Messages will address two leading cases of injuries and 
illnesses in construction: falls and silicosis.
    The data collected in this study will be used to further current 
understanding of tailoring safety and health information utilizing the 
Internet, and the relative effectiveness of this approach when compared 
to traditional and current mechanisms of communicating safety and 
health information. The data collected in this study will also be used 
to provide a basis for developing industry-specific occupational safety 
and health information systems that provide relevant timely risk and 
prevention information, especially to small business owners. The total 
cost to respondents is $3,300.00.

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                                                                    No. of      Average burden/
                 Respondents                       No. of         responses/     response  (in     Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent         hrs.)          (in hrs.)
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Residential Building Construction
 Contractors................................             250                2              .33              165
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    2. The development and implementation of a theory-based health 
communications intervention to decrease silica dust exposure among 
masonry workers--New--The National Institute of Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH)--Construction is the most frequently recorded industry 
on death certificates with mention of silicosis. Overexposure to 
crystalline silica is well documented in the construction industry, 
especially in brick laying and masonry. According to 1993 BLS data, 
there are 136,139 (at 24,362 establishments) masonry and brick laying 
workers in the U.S. and according to a recent study, approximately 
17,400 masonry and plastering workers are exposed to at least five 
times the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL for crystalline silica) 
and of these workers, an estimated 80 percent of them are

[[Page 68773]]

exposed to at least 10 times the NIOSH REL.
    To effectively prevent silicosis, not only must control measures be 
improved, but workers must be persuaded to protect themselves and 
employers must be motivated to provide workers with proper engineering 
controls and training. Previous research has too often focused on the 
behaviors and attitudes of workers and not on employers. Since 
employers have a tremendous influence on the health of workers and 
since their motivations may differ from workers', it is important to 
focus on them as well. Well-designed and theory-driven communication 
interventions have the capacity to promote protective health behaviors. 
To develop messages that will have the greatest success at motivating 
workers to protect themselves and employers to protect their workers 
from silicosis, information on workers' and employers' beliefs, 
attitudes, and behaviors regarding silicosis must be determined. A 
recently completed pilot-study indicated a need to motivate employers 
to provide appropriate engineering controls and respiratory protection 
and a need to persuade workers to protect themselves.
    The goal of this project is to develop a health communication 
intervention program targeting both masonry contractors and workers 
that will increase the use of engineering controls (specifically, wet-
sawing) and respiratory protection. The aforementioned pilot study will 
serve as a foundation upon which the intervention will be developed. 
The effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated using a pre-
post test questionnaire.
    The study results will provide a basis for intervention programs 
that masonry contractors can use to educate their workers regarding 
risk of exposure to silica dust on masonry work sites. The methodology 
could be applied to other construction procedures such as jack 
hammering, sand blasting, and similar dust producing procedures to 
produce similar intervention programs. Eventually we would hope, silica 
exposures among construction workers would decrease significantly. The 
total cost to respondents is $0.00.

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                                                                     No. of      Average burden/
                  Respondents                        No. of        responses/     response  (in    Total burden
                                                   respondents     respondent         hrs.)         (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workers........................................             200               2            0.33            132
Contractors....................................              20               2            0.33             13.2
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    Total......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            145.2
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Charles W. Gollmar,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 98-33035 Filed 12-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P