[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 239 (Monday, December 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77349-77351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31344]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-16-16GK; Docket No. CDC-2015-0111]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or 
continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection request entitled ``Ingress/Egress and Work Boot 
Outsole Wear Investigation at Surface Mining Facilities''. The goal of 
this work is to investigate how ingress/egress systems on mobile 
equipment and personal protective footwear (work boots) used by miners 
may lead to slips, trips and falls by interviewing and surveying mine 
workers and examining work boot outsole characteristics.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 12, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2015-
0111 by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulation.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments.
    Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review Office, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-
D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted 
without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to Regulations.gov.

    Please note:  All public comment should be submitted through the 
Federal eRulemaking portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the 
address listed above.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact the Information Collection Review Office, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-
D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    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; (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; and (e) estimates of capital or start-
up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, 
install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of 
collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to 
train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of 
information, to search data sources, to complete and review the 
collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.

[[Page 77350]]

Proposed Project

    Ingress/Egress and Work Boot Outsole Wear Investigation at Surface 
Mines--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 & health at work for all people 
through research and prevention. NIOSH, under PL 91-173 as amended by 
PL 95-164 (Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977) has the 
responsibility to conduct research to improve working conditions and to 
prevent accidents and occupational diseases in the U.S. mining sector. 
The goal of the proposed project is to investigate how ingress/egress 
systems on mobile equipment, and personal protective footwear (boots) 
used by miners may lead to slips, trips and falls at stone, sand and 
gravel surface mining facilities. NIOSH is requesting a 3-year approval 
for this data collection.
    The project objective will be achieved through two studies. The 
first study aims to: Identify elements of ingress/egress systems on 
haulage trucks and front end loaders that pose a risk of slips, trips 
and falls (STFs) and could lead to STF related injuries; to determine 
worker behavior associated with STF incidents; and to learn how 
purchasing/maintenance decisions are made for ingress/egress systems. 
In the surface mining industry, it is still unclear which component of 
the ingress/egress system poses the greatest risk for STF. Hence there 
is a need to understand where, how and why STF incidents occur during 
ingress/egress on mobile equipment.
    NIOSH will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 
mobile equipment operators, and interviews with mine management to 
explore the issues identified above. Focus groups will be conducted in 
a private setting with 4-6 participants using a predefined list of 
questions to help guide the discussion. Semi-structured interviews will 
be conducted either in person or over the telephone. Two separate 
interview guides will be used for mobile equipment operators and mine 
management to guide the discussion.
    For the focus groups and semi-structured interviews, NIOSH will 
collect basic demographic information including years of mining 
experience, years of experience with haul trucks/front end loaders, and 
models of haul trucks/front end loaders operated most often in the past 
year. The semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be audio 
recorded for further analysis of the discussion. The semi-structured 
interviews will last no longer than 60 minutes and the focus groups 
will last no longer than 90 minutes.
    The second study aims to identify changes in tread (wear) on the 
work boot outsoles and other outsole characteristics that will be used 
in further analysis to develop guidelines for work boot replacement 
based on measureable features of boot outsoles. This information will 
also be used in further analysis to determine desirable and undesirable 
features of work boots based on mine characteristics or job activities. 
Most mining companies replace footwear at a pre-determined interval or 
based on appearance and comfort (Chiou, Bhattacharya, & Succop, 1996) 
with little knowledge of the actual condition of the boot outsole and 
its influence on the likelihood of a STF incident. Although there have 
been attempts to quantify shoe outsole wear in industrial work when the 
shoe was ready for disposal (Chiou et al., 1996), there is a lack of 
knowledge in the mining industry on how quickly the outsoles of work 
boots wear, what sorts of wear occur, and how wear patterns influence 
the likelihood of a STF.
    For the longitudinal study, NIOSH will provide participants with a 
pair of new work boots of their choice, in accordance with mine 
requirements and policies. Afterwards, participants will complete a 
preliminary survey and provide basic demographic information, details 
of their current work boots, and details of STF incidents in the past 3 
months. Participants will be requested to wear the supplied boots at 
work and treat the boots as they would any pair of boots they would 
wear at work.
    NIOSH researchers will scan the boot outsoles longitudinally, at 2 
to 3 month intervals for the length of the study. To better understand 
wear patterns and risks, participants will complete an on-going survey 
that records hours worked, locations commonly visited, and tasks 
performed along with details of any near miss or STF event. These self-
reports will be collected via survey on a bi-weekly basis. Participants 
will be offered multiple modalities to respond to the survey (in-
person, on paper, over the telephone, via email or using an online 
survey) to increase response rates. When a participant feels their 
boots need to be replaced (or when the end of the two-year tracking 
period has been reached), they will complete a final survey assessing 
why the boots were at the end of their life and will return their boots 
to NIOSH researchers for further analysis.
    For the cross-sectional study, participants' current work boots 
will be scanned and participants will complete the preliminary survey 
that includes basic demographic information, details of current work 
boots, and details of STF events in the past three months.
    The results of these research studies will have very different 
applications, but one goal: Reducing the risks of STF accidents at 
surface mining facilities. The results of the ingress/egress study will 
help identify features of the ingress/egress system that may lead to 
STF accidents so that they can be made safer by the manufacturers and 
to allow mining companies to make better purchasing decisions and 
encourage the acquisition of systems with better slip and fall 
protection. The results of the boot outsole wear study will be used to 
inform mine policy and practices by providing miners and mine managers 
with the knowledge to determine when to replace footwear based on 
measurable features of the boot outsoles.
    The total estimated burden hours are 643. There is no cost to the 
respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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Mobile equipment Operators....  Mobile equipment              25               1            1.25              31
                                 operators focus
                                 group guide.
Mobile equipment operators....  Mobile equipment              10               1           45/60               8
                                 operator
                                 interview guide.
Mine Management...............  Mine Management               15               1           45/60              11
                                 Interview Guide.
Mine Worker...................  Screening                     50               1            6/60               5
                                 Questionnaire.

[[Page 77351]]

 
Mine Worker...................  Informed consent              50               1           12/60              10
                                 form
                                 (Longitudinal
                                 boot outsole
                                 study).
Mine Worker...................  Preliminary                  150               1           15/60              38
                                 survey.
Mine Worker...................  On-going survey.              50              52           12/60             520
Mine Worker...................  Final Survey....              50               1            6/60               5
Mine Worker...................  Talent and                   150               1            6/60              15
                                 consent waiver.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             643
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Leroy A. Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the 
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2015-31344 Filed 12-11-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P