[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8403-8404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2651]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 DAY-17-01]


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 Officer at (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.
    Proposed Project: The Role of Positive and Negative Emotion in 
Promoting Hearing Conservation Behaviors Among Coal Miners--New--The 
mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is to promote 
``safety and health at work for all people through research and 
prevention.'' NIOSH investigates and identifies occupational safety and 
health hazards and conducts a variety of activities, including 
educational programs with workers, to help prevent work-related illness 
and injury.
    One of the most widespread, but often overlooked, occupational 
hazards is noise. As a result, hearing loss is the most common 
occupational disease in the United States today. More than 30 million 
workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels. The risk of hearing loss 
is particularly high in certain occupations. Research shows that more 
than 90 percent of coal miners will experience moderate to significant 
hearing loss by the time they reach retirement. This level of hearing 
loss has a number of negative implications for both the affected 
individual and others: (1) Impaired communication with family members, 
friends, and coworkers can result in social isolation; (2) unrelenting 
tinnitus (ringing in the ears) can significantly lower one's quality of 
life; (3) a diminished ability to monitor the work environment 
(including warning signals, etc.) increases the risk of accidents and 
further injury at the workplace; and, finally, (4) there are economic 
costs that result from workers' compensation and lower productivity.
    New noise standards for the mining environment have recently been 
issued by the Department of Labor and will go into effect in September 
2000. The new rules require that mine operators take necessary action 
to protect miners' hearing when noise levels reach 85 dBA or more over 
an eight-hour period with additional actions required at 90 dBA. While 
the new standard establishes mandatory behaviors, such as the wearing 
of both ear plug and earmuff-type hearing protectors at noise levels of 
105 dBA or more over an eight-hour period, there are also voluntary 
behaviors associated with the new rules. The wearing of hearing 
protectors at levels below 90 dBA and getting hearing tests as part of 
a hearing conservation program are both voluntary on the part of the 
individual miner.
    This study is designed to ascertain factors that can be used to 
encourage adoption of voluntary behaviors among coal miners. The choice 
of this subset of miners is based upon research that indicates they 
experience significantly more hearing loss than metal and nonmetal 
miners. NIOSH proposes working with the United Mine Workers of America 
and experts in health communication to test the effectiveness of 
several innovative approaches to communicating hearing loss risk and 
promoting self-protective behaviors. Different messages will be sent to 
four different groups of coal miners, and there will be one control 
group that receives no message. The researchers will follow up with 
these groups at two different points in time to assess the relative 
effectiveness of the messages.
    The central purpose of this study is to promote hearing 
conservation among coal miners and encourage the adoption of the 
voluntary components of the new noise standard. However, NIOSH believes 
that the results of this study will help in similar efforts with other 
worker populations. The total burden for this project is 230 hours.

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                                                                                         Number of     Average
                                                                            Number of    responses/   burden per
                               Respondents                                 respondents   respondent    response
                                                                                         (in hrs.)    (in hrs.)
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Coal miners in pretest...................................................           80            1        60/60
Coal miners in study.....................................................          300            2        15/60
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[[Page 8404]]

    Dated: January 25, 2001.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 01-2651 Filed 1-30-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P