[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6808-6809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2448]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

[Docket Number: RITA-2007-27185]


Notice of Request for Approval To Collect Survey Data To Evaluate 
Close Call Reporting System for Railroad Operations

AGENCY: Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), 
Research and Innovative Technology Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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    OMB Control Number: New.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Volpe Center intends to request 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a data collection 
effort to help in the evaluation of a five-year demonstration project 
focused on improving rail safety by analyzing information on close 
calls and other unsafe occurrences in the rail industry. The study is 
conducted by the Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad 
Administration (FRA) and is designed to identify safety issues and 
propose corrective actions based on voluntary reports of close calls 
submitted to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Because of 
the innovative nature of this program, the FRA is implementing an 
evaluation to determine whether the program is succeeding, how it can 
be improved, and what is needed to expand the program throughout the 
railroad industry. This collection is necessary to obtain the data 
needed to carry out the evaluation. This notice is required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Data Confidentiality Provisions: The Volpe Center will not release 
to FRA or any other public or private entity any information that might 
reveal the identity of individuals or organizations mentioned in the 
evaluation survey questionnaires. The respondents will not be asked to 
identify themselves.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. Department 
of Transportation (DOT), Dockets Management System (DMS). You may 
submit your comments by mail or in person to the Docket Clerk, Docket 
No. RITA-2007-27185, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments should 
identify the docket number; paper comments should be submitted in 
duplicate. The DMS is open for examination and copying, at the above 
address, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your 
written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard 
with the following statement: ``Comments on Docket RITA-2007-27185.'' 
The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to 
you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery 
of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that 
persons consider an alternative method (the Internet, fax, or 
professional delivery service) to submit comments to the docket and 
ensure their timely receipt at U.S. DOT. You may fax your comments to 
the DMS at (202) 493-2251.
    If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the 
DOT DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Please follow the online 
instructions for submitting an electronic comment. You can also review 
comments on-line at the DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Please note that anyone is able to electronically search all 
comments received into our docket management system by the name of the 
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment if submitted 
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may 
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register 
published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; pages 19477-78) or 
you may review the Privacy Act Statement at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Ranney, DTS 4G, Room 1-655A, 
Volpe Center; Kendall Square, 55 Broadway; Cambridge, MA 617-494-2095; 
FAX NO. (617) 494-3622; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Data Collection

    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35; as 
amended) and 5 CFR part 1320 require each Federal agency to obtain OMB 
approval to initiate an information collection activity. The Volpe 
Center is seeking OMB approval for the following Volpe Center 
information collection activity:
    Title: Collect Close Call System Evaluation Survey Questionnaires.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Type of Review: Approval of data collection.
    Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
    Number of Respondents: 1200 (per annum).
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.33 hours.
    Frequency: Once at baseline. (Baseline includes three pilot sites 
with a total of 1200 respondents.)
    Total Annual Burden: 400 hours.

Background

    In the U.S. railroad industry, injury rates have been declining 
over the last 25 years. Indeed, the industry incident rate fell from a 
high of 12.1 incidents per 100 workers per year in 1978 to 3.66 in 
1996. As the number of incidents has decreased, the mix of causes has 
also changed toward a higher proportion of incidents that can be 
attributed to human and organizational factors. This combination of 
trends--decrease in overall rates but increasing proportion of human 
factors-related incidents--has forced safety managers to shift tactics 
in order to achieve further reductions in the overall injury rate.
    In recognition of the need for new approaches to improving safety, 
the FRA has instituted the Confidential Close Call Reporting System 
(C3RS). The operating assumption behind C3RS is 
that by assuring confidentiality, employees will report events, which, 
if dealt with, will decrease the likelihood of accidents. 
C3RS therefore has both a confidential reporting component, 
and a problem analysis/solution component. C3RS is expected 
to affect safety in two ways. First, it will lead to problem solving 
concerning specific safety conditions. Second, it will engender an 
organizational culture and climate that supports greater awareness of 
safety and a greater cooperative willingness to improve safety.
    If C3RS works as intended, it could have an important 
impact on improving safety and safety culture in the railroad industry. 
While C3RS has been developed and implemented with the 
participation of the FRA, railroad labor, and railroad management, 
there are legitimate questions about whether it is being implemented in 
the most powerful way, and whether it will have its intended effect. 
Further, even if C3RS is successful, it will be necessary to 
know if it is successful enough to implement on a wide scale. To 
address these important questions, the FRA is implementing a formative 
evaluation to guide program development, a summative evaluation to 
assess impact, and a sustainability evaluation to

[[Page 6809]]

determine how C3RS can continue after the test period is 
over. The evaluation is needed to provide the FRA with guidance as to 
how it can improve the program, and how it might be scaled up 
throughout the railroad industry.
    Program evaluation is an inherently data driven activity. Its basic 
tenet is that as change is implemented, data can be collected to track 
the course and consequences of the change. Because of the setting in 
which C3RS is being implemented, that data must come from 
the railroad employees (labor and management) who may be affected. 
Critical data include beliefs about safety and issues related to 
safety, and opinions/observations about the operation of 
C3RS.
    In order to collect the necessary data in a manner that protects 
confidentiality, the data collection process will be managed by the 
Volpe Center. The Volpe Center will not release to FRA or any other 
public or private entity any information that might reveal the identity 
of individuals or organizations mentioned in the evaluation survey 
questionnaires. Also the respondents will not be asked to identify 
themselves.

II. Request for Comments

    The Volpe Center requests comments on any aspects of these 
information collections, including: (1) The accuracy of the estimated 
burden; (2) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
collected information; and (3) ways to minimize the collection burden 
without reducing the quality of the information collected, including 
additional use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Issued in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on February 6, 2007.
Nelson H. Keeler,
Director, Office of Aviation Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-2448 Filed 2-12-07; 8:45 am]
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