[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9929-9931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3622]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-12-12EF]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-7570 
and send comments to Kimberly Lane CDC Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 
Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an email to 
[email protected].
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received 
within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Evaluating the Effectiveness of Occupational Safety and Health 
Program Elements in the Wholesale Retail Trade Sector--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 (Section 20-22, 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 proposes to conduct a 
study to assess the effectiveness of occupational safety and health 
(OSH) program elements in the wholesale/retail trade (WRT) sector.

[[Page 9930]]

    Liberty Mutual has estimated direct workers compensation costs to 
industry in the United States in 2009 to be $50 billion. The WRT 
industry sector employs over 21 million workers or 19% of the workforce 
in private industry. In 2007, the majority of non-fatal injuries and 
illnesses involving days away from work in the WRT sector involved 
musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs, 29%) or slip/trip/falls (STFs, 22%). 
For this reason, major strategic NIOSH goals in the WRT sector are to 
reduce MSDs, STFs and other injuries/illnesses in part by assessing the 
effectiveness of occupational safety and health (OSH) programs designed 
to prevent these outcomes. There is some evidence that OSH prevention 
programs built on key elements (management leadership, employee 
participation, hazard identification and control, medical management, 
training, and program evaluation) reduce losses. However, little 
evidence exists on the relative effectiveness of program elements 
compared to each other. There is a need for research to develop 
reliable OSH program metrics and determine which elements have the 
greatest impact on injuries, illnesses and work disability. A renewed 
partnership between NIOSH and the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation 
(OBWC) provides a timely opportunity to conduct such research in a 
relevant and efficient manner.
    A collaborative study involving NIOSH and the OBWC will examine the 
association between survey-assessed OSH program elements 
(organizational policies, procedures, practices) and workers 
compensation (WC) injury/illness outcomes in a stratified sample of 
OBWC-insured wholesale/retail trade (WRT) firms. Crucial OSH program 
elements with particularly high impact on WC losses will be identified 
in this study and disseminated to the WRT sector. This study will 
provide important information that is not currently available elsewhere 
on the effectiveness of OSH programs for the WRT sector. This project 
fits the mission of CDC-NIOSH to conduct scientific intervention 
effectiveness research to support the evidenced based prevention of 
occupational injuries and illnesses.
    For this study, the target population includes United States WRT 
firms (North American Industry Classification System codes 42, 44, 45). 
The sampling frame includes OBWC-insured WRT firms in Ohio. The study 
sample includes OBWC-insured WRT firms who volunteer to participate in 
the OBWC-NIOSH research project.
    The proposed research involves a firm-level survey of a series of 
organizational metrics considered to be potential predictors of injury 
and illness WC claim rates and duration in a stratified sample of OBWC-
insured WRT firms in Ohio. There are expected to be up to 4,404 
participants per year; surveys will be administered twice to the same 
firms in successive years (e.g. from January-December 2012 and again 
from January-December 2013).
    An individual responsible for the OSH program at each firm will be 
asked to complete a survey that includes a background section related 
to respondent and company demographics and a main section where 
individuals will be asked to evaluate organizational metrics related to 
their firm's OSH program. The firm-level survey data will be linked to 
five years of retrospective injury and illness WC claims data and two 
years of prospective injury and illness WC claims data from OBWC to 
determine which organizational metrics are related to firm-level injury 
and illness WC claim rates. A nested study will ask multiple 
respondents at a subset of 60 firms to participate by completing 
surveys. A five-minute interview will be conducted with a 10% sample of 
non-responders (up to 792 individuals).
    In order to maximize efficiency and reduce burden, a Web-based 
survey is proposed for the majority (95%) of survey data collection. 
Collected information will be used to determine whether a significant 
relationship exists between self-reported firm OSH elements and firm WC 
outcomes while controlling for covariates. Once the study is completed, 
benchmarking reports about OSH elements that have the highest impact on 
WC losses in the WRT sector will be made available through the NIOSH-
OBWC Internet sites and peer-reviewed publications.
    In summary, this study will determine the effectiveness of OSH 
program elements in the WRT sector and enable evidence-based prevention 
practices to be shared with the greatest audience possible. NIOSH 
expects to complete data collection in 2014. There is no cost to 
respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of      Avg. burden
      Type of respondent            Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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Safety and Health Managers in.  Occupational               4,404               1           20/60           1,468
                                 Safety and
                                 Health Program
                                 Survey.
                                Informed Consent           4,404               1            2/60             147
                                 Form.
                                Non Responder                792               1            5/60              66
                                 Interview.
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Hours...............  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,681
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[[Page 9931]]

    Dated: February 10, 2012.
Ronald Otten,
Deputy Chief, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-3622 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P