[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 48 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11988-11990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5417]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

[Docket Number: RITA-2008-0002]


Notice of Request for Approval To Collect New Information: 
Collection of Safety Culture Data

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and 
Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), DOT.

[[Page 11989]]


ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics (BTS) intends to request the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) to approve a data collection effort to evaluate a demonstration 
research study on the use of close calls data to improve safety 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 BTS. Because of the innovative nature of 
this program, the FRA is implementing an evaluation program to 
determine whether the program is succeeding, how it can be improved, 
and what is needed to implement the program throughout the railroad 
industry. This collection is necessary in order to carry out the 
evaluation program. Specifically, information about changes to the 
safety culture of the affected workplaces will be used as one of 
several data sources for potentially establishing a causative 
relationship between close call reporting and increase in rail safety. 
This notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by May 11, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. Department 
of Transportation (DOT), Docket Management Facility (DMF). You may 
submit your comments by mail to the Docket Clerk, Docket No. RITA-2008-
0002, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE., West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001. 
Comments should identify the docket number; paper comments should be 
submitted in duplicate. The DMF 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-2008-
0002.'' 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 DMF at (202) 493-2251.
    If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the 
Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Please follow the instructions for 
submitting an electronic comment. You can also review comments on-line 
at the same Web site http://www.regulations.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 Department's Privacy Policy at http://www.dot.gov/Privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Demetra V. Collia, E-36, Room 314, 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 
366-1610; Fax No. (202) 366-3676; e-mail: [email protected].
    Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of data 
collected by BTS is protected under the BTS confidentiality statute (49 
U.S.C. 111 (k). In accordance with the BTS confidentiality statute, 
only statistical and non-identifying data will be made publicly 
available through reports. Further, BTS 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 collected 
survey data.

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. BTS is seeking 
OMB approval for the following BTS information collection activity:
    Title: Collection of Safety Culture Data.
    OMB Control Number: 2139- NEW.
    Type of Review: Approval of data collection.
    Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
    Number of Respondents: 4,000
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.
    Frequency: The survey will be conducted twice either as a mid-term 
or end-of-study evaluation.
    Total Annual Burden: 2,000 hours.

 II. Background

    Collecting data on the nation's transportation system is an 
important component of BTS' responsibility to the transportation 
community and is authorized in BTS statutory authority (49 U.S.C. 
111(c)(1) and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5) (j)). Further, BTS and FRA 
share a common interest in promoting rail safety based on better data. 
In recognition of the need for new approaches to improving safety, the 
FRA has initiated a research program called the Confidential Close Call 
Reporting System (C \3\RS). The C \3\RS is designed to identify safety 
issues and propose corrective actions based on voluntary reports of 
close calls submitted to BTS. A close call represents a situation in 
which an ongoing sequence of events was stopped from developing 
further, preventing the occurrence of potentially serious safety-
related consequences. This might include the following: (1) Events that 
happen frequently, but have low safety consequences; (2) events that 
happen infrequently but have the potential for high consequences (e.g., 
a train in dark territory proceeds beyond its authority); (3) events 
that are below the FRA reporting threshold (e.g., an event that causes 
a minor injury); and (4) events that are reportable to FRA but have the 
potential for a far greater accident than the one reported (e.g., a 
slow speed collision with minor damage to the equipment and no 
injuries.)
    BTS is collecting close call reports submitted by railroad 
employees while protecting the confidentiality of these data through 
its own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the Confidential Information 
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA). The 
operating assumption behind C \3\RS is that by assuring 
confidentiality, employees will report events which, if dealt with, 
will decrease the likelihood of accidents. C \3\RS therefore has both a 
confidential reporting component, and a problem analysis/solution 
component. C \3\RS 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. BTS has received a separate OMB approval 
for the collection of close call reports (2139-0010) which does not 
involve the evaluation of the reporting system.
    While C \3\RS has been developed and is being implemented with the 
participation of the FRA, railroad labor,

[[Page 11990]]

and railroad management, there are legitimate questions about whether 
it is being implemented in the most effective way, and whether it will 
have its intended effect. Further, even if C \3\RS 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 determine how C \3\RS 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 C \3\RS is being implemented, that data must come from the 
railroad employees (labor and management) who may be affected. 
Employees of selected railroad sites (pilot sites) will be asked to 
fill out a questionnaire which will be made available to them at their 
workplace and collected by BTS staff or BTS contractors. The 
questionnaire will request the respondent to provide information such 
as: (a) Beliefs about rail safety; (b) issues and personal concerns 
related to implementation of safety programs in their work environment; 
(c) knowledge and views on voluntary reporting of unsafe events; and 
(d) opinions and observations about the operation of C \3\RS at their 
work site.

 III. Request for Comments

    BTS 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 Washington, DC on March 5, 2010.
Steven D. Dillingham,
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative 
Technology Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-5417 Filed 3-11-10; 8:45 am]
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