[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 246 (Monday, December 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78365-78366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30382]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket Number NIOSH-141]


Notice of Draft Document Available for Public Comment

AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of Draft Document Available for Public Comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
announces the availability of the following draft document available 
for public comment entitled ``Preventing Deaths and Injuries of Fire 
Fighters When Fighting Fires in Unoccupied Structures.'' The draft 
document and instructions for submitting comments can be found at 
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/141/. Comments may be provided 
to the NIOSH Docket Number above.

Public Comment Period: January 5, 2009 to March 9, 2009.
    Status: Written comments may be submitted to the NIOSH Docket 
Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Mailstop 
C34, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, telephone (513)

[[Page 78366]]

533-8611. All materials submitted to the Agency should reference NIOSH 
docket number 141 and must be submitted by March 9, 2009, to be 
considered by the Agency. All electronic comments should be formatted 
as Microsoft Word.
    All information received in response to this notice will be 
available for public examination and copying at the NIOSH Docket 
Office, Room 111, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226. After 
the comment period has closed, comments may be accessed electronically 
at http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH under the link to the NIOSH docket. As 
appropriate, NIOSH will post comments with the commenters' names, 
affiliations, and other information, on the Internet.
    Background: This document highlights hazards and provides 
recommendations for preventing fire fighter deaths and injuries when 
working in structures that are known or suspected to be vacant or 
unoccupied. This document summarizes fatality statistics from the 
National Fire Protection Association as well as the NIOSH Fire Fighter 
Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) databases. 
Selected case reports from the NIOSH FFFIPP program are presented to 
illustrate the risks to fire fighters entering structures known to be 
unoccupied and to highlight recommended interventions. The primary 
audiences are expected to be fire commissioners, fire chiefs, fire 
department and municipal managers, fire fighters, labor unions, safety 
and health professionals, trainers, fire investigators, State fire 
marshals, contractors, building owners and other interested parties.
    This guidance document does not have the force and effect of law.

CONTACT PERSON FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Timothy R. Merinar, Safety 
Engineer, CDC/NIOSH, Division of Safety Research, 1095 Willowdale Road, 
H1808, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26505, telephone (304) 285-5916, e-
mail [email protected].
    Reference: Web address for this document: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/141/.

    Dated: December 15, 2008.
James D. Seligman,
Chief Information Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. E8-30382 Filed 12-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P