[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 62 (Thursday, April 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16485-16486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7369]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day--10-10AP]


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 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

Proposed Project

    Survey of Healthcare Workers' Health and Safety Practices--New--
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) is to promote safety and health at work for all people 
through research and prevention. Under Public Law 91-596, Sections 20 
and 22, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, NIOSH has the 
responsibility to conduct research to advance the health and safety of 
workers. In this capacity, NIOSH will conduct a Web-based survey that 
will provide important hazard and exposure surveillance data that is 
currently unavailable for healthcare workers.

[[Page 16486]]

    Healthcare workers represent over 8% of the U.S. workforce with 
many occupations projected to substantially grow in the next ten years. 
Healthcare workers experience higher rates of illness and injury as 
compared to workers in other industries and are at increased risk for 
many of the types of adverse health effects potentially caused by 
exposure to hazardous chemical agents. The proposed hazard surveillance 
survey will provide important information on work practices associated 
with the use of important classes of hazardous chemical agents 
including antineoplastic agents, anesthetic gases, aerosolized 
medications, chemical sterilants, high level disinfectants and surgical 
smoke. This voluntary survey is the first of its kind by the Federal 
government. The data collected will allow NIOSH to describe the range 
of health and safety practices and the types of exposure controls used 
by healthcare workers by hazard, occupation, and type and size of work 
setting. The study population for this survey includes members of 22 
professional organizations who represent healthcare workers in many 
occupations which use or are exposed to these chemical agents. Each of 
the 22 participating professional organizations will be responsible for 
implementing the sampling approach developed by NIOSH and sending 
invitation and reminder emails to sampled members. The sample size for 
the survey is estimated to be 25,650 healthcare workers. NIOSH will use 
the data to guide interventions and future research. Participating 
professional organizations plan to use the data for benchmarking, 
identifying areas for expanding guidelines and for health and safety 
promotion.
    The proposed survey is modular in design and will be only available 
on-line. The survey includes a screening module, separate chemical 
hazard modules addressing the previously mentioned hazardous chemical 
agents, and a core module which gathers information on a broad range of 
health and safety issues affecting healthcare workers. The web survey 
will present the modules to respondents in a seamless manner.
    Depending on the size of the participating professional 
organization, all members or a random sample of members will be sent an 
email by their organization which will contain a link to the survey. 
Initially, respondents will complete a screening module which will 
determine whether they are eligible for the survey. The eligibility 
criteria is, they must have used or have come in contact with one or 
more of the hazardous chemical agents within the past week. If 
eligible, the respondent would complete the appropriate hazard module 
(e.g., oncology nurses would complete hazard module on administration 
of antineoplastic agents) and the core module. A second hazard module 
may also be completed if additional chemical agents were used in the 
past week. Respondents will not be asked to report their names or any 
other identifying information.
    The project supports NIOSH's surveillance strategic goal which is 
to advance the usefulness of surveillance information for the 
prevention of occupational illnesses, injuries and hazards. Further, 
the goal seeks to actively promote the dissemination and use of NIOSH 
surveillance data and information.
    Once the study is completed, results will be made available via 
various means including the NIOSH Internet site. NIOSH expects to 
complete data collection no later than spring of 2011. There is no cost 
to respondents other than their time. The total estimated annual burden 
hours are 11,140.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

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                                                                                     Number of      Avg. burden
          Type of respondent              Activity or form name      Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professional Organization.............  Implement NIOSH sampling              22               1               5
                                         approach; send
                                         invitation and reminder
                                         emails to sampled
                                         members.
Healthcare Workers....................  Screening module........          25,650               1            1/60
                                        Primary hazard module...          20,520               1           10/60
                                        Core module.............          20,520               1           20/60
                                        Secondary hazard module.           2,052               1           10/60
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    Dated: March 25, 2010.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2010-7369 Filed 3-31-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P