[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 239 (Thursday, December 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70866-70867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24140]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-08-06AO]


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) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC or by fax to (202) 395-6974. 
Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Evaluation of an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Program for 
the Small Business Wood Pallet Industry--New--National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Section 
501, enables CDC/NIOSH to carry out research relevant to the health and 
safety of workers. The goal of this project is to determine whether 
receipt of a NIOSH informational manual about occupational safety and 
health (OSH) concerns specific to pallet manufacturing and recycling 
will motivate owners or managers to take actions resulting in a safer 
workplace. The theoretical basis of the study follows the 
Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Prochaska and DiClemente [1984]. This 
model states that change is defined by 5 stages: (1) Pre-
contemplation--people are unaware of problems and are not thinking 
seriously about changing within the next 6 months, (2) contemplation--
the stage where people become aware that a problem exists and intend to 
take action within the next 6 months, (3) preparation--investigating 
options and intending to take action in the next 30

[[Page 70867]]

days, (4) action--people institute environmental changes and change 
their overt behavior, and (5) maintenance--people continue the gains 
obtained during the action stage for longer than 6 months.
    Small business entrepreneurship is a vital component of the U.S. 
economy. OSH activities, including research, regulation, enforcement, 
and intervention historically have not focused on small businesses 
despite their predominance and relatively large numbers of employees 
overall. Few small business establishments provide on-site occupational 
health units, medical screening tests, pre-placement physicals, or 
employ or use industrial hygiene or safety personnel/consultants. As a 
consequence, prevention of occupational injury and illness is often 
difficult in small business establishments because they generally have 
few safety and health resources, do not hire staff devoted to safety 
and health activities, and often lack the ability to identify 
occupational hazards and conduct surveillance.
    The pallet manufacturing industry has higher injury rates than 
general industry. The incidence rate for non-fatal injuries in the wood 
pallet and skid (SIC 2448) manufacturing industry was 226% greater than 
that for general industry. The type of injuries sustained at wood 
pallet manufacturers and their rates of increase [2002] compared to 
general industry included amputations (2220% higher), cuts and 
punctures (378% higher), fractures (237% higher), bruises (221% higher) 
sprains and strains (133% higher) and back pain (305% higher).
    Through this study, NIOSH will evaluate the feasibility and 
effectiveness of providing carefully constructed OSH information to one 
segment of small business pallet makers. The informational manual will 
be divided into eight chapters targeting specific hazards relevant to 
pallet work and will provide the owners/managers with suggestions for 
controlling those hazards. Chapters were selected based on prior NIOSH 
site visits to a sample of pallet makers and in consultation with the 
National Wood Pallet and Container Association. The chapters include: 
An introduction to OSH, developing a site-specific safety program, 
controlling noise, improving ventilation, saw safety, forklift safety, 
preventing build up of carbon monoxide, and prevention of 
musculoskeletal injury through ergonomics.
    This project will utilize two groups--a treatment group and a 
control group--in a pre-post design. One hundred eighty pallet 
companies will be randomly selected and assigned to two groups from a 
list of small pallet businesses in the United States that was provided 
by a market research firm. Both groups will participate in a baseline 
survey conducted by telephone. The treatment group will then receive 
the NIOSH informational manual by mail and the control group will not 
receive the manual until the conclusion of the study. Five months after 
the mailing, both groups will participate in a follow-up telephone 
survey designed to assess whether receipt and use of the material 
encouraged owners/managers to contemplate, plan, or initiate OSH 
changes at their facility. The questionnaire will determine whether 
owners/managers have progressed from baseline along the stage of change 
continuum because of receipt and use of the NIOSH material, or if some 
other factor is influencing their safety and health actions. It is 
possible that improvements in OSH may occur due to other influences and 
not from the informational manual. For example, it is possible that 
some event will occur that will make the entire industry more aware of 
OSH. Use of a similar control group will help in this determination. 
Data collection will occur within a 12 month period. However, the 
entire NIOSH study will occur over a two-year period. There will be no 
cost to respondents except their time to participate in the telephone 
survey. The total estimated annualized burden hours are 40.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Table
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
          Type of respondents                   Form name            Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pallet company safety and health        Initial Questionnaire                  9               1            3/60
 managers.                               (screening only).
                                        Initial Questionnaire                 48               1           12/60
                                         (complete).
Treatment Group.......................  Follow-up Questionnaire.              45               1           15/60
Pallet company safety and health        Initial Questionnaire                  9               1            3/60
 managers.                               (screening only).
                                        Initial Questionnaire                 48               1           12/60
                                         (complete).
Control Group.........................  Follow-up Questionnaire*              45               1            9/60
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    Dated: December 6, 2007.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
 [FR Doc. E7-24140 Filed 12-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P