[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50099-50100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24006]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30 DAY-25-99]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Office on (404) 639-7090. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer; Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, DC 20503. Written 
comments should be received within 30 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 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 
annual burden hours are 249.

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                                                                                     No. of      Average burden/
                         Respondents                                No. of         responses/     response  (in
                                                                 respondents       respondent         hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Residential Building Construction Contractors................             250                2              .33
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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

[[Page 50100]]

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 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 annual burden hours are 146.

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                                                                                         Average
                                                             No. of        No. of        burden/        Total
                       Respondents                         respondents   responses/     response     burden  (in
                                                                         respondent     (in hrs.)       hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workers.................................................          200             2          0.33           132
Contractors.............................................           20             2          0.33          13.2
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................  ............  ............  ............        145.2
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    Dated: September 9, 1999.
Nancy Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 99-24006 Filed 9-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P