[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17410-17411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7690]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30 Day-10-08BG]
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) 395-5806.
Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Survey of NIOSH Recommended Safety and Health Practices for Coal
Mines--NEW--National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[[Page 17411]]
Background and Brief Description
Since its establishment in 1970 by the Occupational Safety and
Health Act, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) has been at the forefront of research and innovation on methods
to help eliminate workplace injuries, illnesses and exposures. At Mine
Safety and Health Research laboratories in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
Spokane, Washington, NIOSH employs engineers and scientists with
experience and expertise in mine safety and health issues. These
laboratories and their researchers have gained an international
reputation for innovative solutions to many mining safety and health
problems.
Although the NIOSH Mining Program widely disseminates and
publicizes research results, recommendations, techniques and products
that emerge from the work of these laboratories, the agency has limited
knowledge about the extent to which their innovations in mine safety
and health have been implemented by individual mine operators. This is
particularly true of methods and practices that are not mandated by
formal regulations. The overarching goal of the proposed survey of
NIOSH Recommended Safety and Health Practices for Coal Mines is to
gather data from working coal mines on the adoption and implementation
of NIOSH practices to mitigate safety and occupational hazards (e.g.,
explosions, falls of ground). Survey results will provide NIOSH with
knowledge about which recommended practices, tools and methods have
been most widely embraced by the industry, which have not been adopted,
and why. The survey results will provide needed insight from the
perspective of mine operators on the practical barriers that may
prevent wider adoption of NIOSH recommendations and practices designed
to safeguard mine workers.
In the Spring of 2007, NIOSH conducted a pretest of the survey
questionnaire with nine underground coal mine operators. The pretest
instrument contained 81 questions, including five questions which
measured the respondents' impressions of the clarity, burden level and
relevance of the survey. The pretest served several important
functions, including gaining feedback on the flow of items and their
relevance to the respondents' experience, assessing the effectiveness
of the questionnaire instructions, and obtaining recommendations for
improving the questions. Data captured in the pretest were used to
identify areas for questionnaire improvement and recommendations for
maximizing the performance of the full survey.
The proposed survey will be based upon a probability sample of
approximately 300 of the 675 underground coal mines in the United
States. A stratified random sample of mines will be drawn to ensure
representativeness on important dimensions such as mine size and region
of the country. Sampling a large proportion of the underground coal
mines will ensure low rates of sampling error and increase confidence
in the resulting survey estimates. Over-sampling some kinds of mines,
such as those operating longwall sections, will be necessary to ensure
enough cases are available to conduct meaningful analysis of these mine
types.
Once the study is completed, NIOSH will provide a copy of the final
report to each sampled mining operation, and use the survey data to
improve the adoption of important safety and health practices
throughout the coal mine industry. There is no cost to respondents
other than their time. The total estimated annual burden hours are 142.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of burden per
Respondents respondents responses per response (in
respondent hours)
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Initial telephone screening contact with coal mines............. 300 1 5/60
Respondents completing paper survey............................. 144 1 30/60
Respondents completing web survey............................... 96 1 25/60
Non-respondent follow-up........................................ 60 1 5/60
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Dated: March 29, 2010.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2010-7690 Filed 4-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P