[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 97 (Thursday, May 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31666-31667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11777]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed revision of the ``Survey of Occupational Injuries and 
Illnesses.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request 
(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the 
Addresses section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section of this notice on or before July 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also 
may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free 
number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Section 24(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
requires the Secretary of Labor to develop and

[[Page 31667]]

maintain an effective program of collection, compilation, and analysis 
of statistics on occupational injuries and illnesses. The Commissioner 
of Labor Statistics has been delegated the responsibility for 
``Furthering the purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by 
developing and maintaining an effective program of collection, 
compilation, analysis and publication of occupational safety and health 
statistics.'' The BLS fulfills this responsibility, in part, by 
conducting the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in 
conjunction with participating State statistical agencies. The BLS 
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses provides the Nation's 
primary indicator of the progress towards achieving the goal of safer 
and healthier workplaces. The survey produces the overall rate of 
occurrence of work injuries and illnesses by industry which can be 
compared to prior years to produce measures of the rate of change. 
These data are used to assess the Nation's progress in improving the 
safety and health of America's work places; to prioritize scarce 
Federal and State resources; to guide the development of injury and 
illness prevention strategies; and to support Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration (OSHA) and State safety and health standards and 
research. Data are essential for evaluating the effectiveness of 
Federal and State programs for improving work place safety and health. 
For these reasons, it is necessary to provide estimates separately for 
participating States.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The survey measures the 
overall rate of occurrence of work injuries and illnesses by industry 
for private industry, State governments, and local governments. For the 
more serious injuries and illnesses, those with days away from work, 
the survey provides detailed information on the injured/ill worker 
(age, sex, race, industry, occupation, and length of service), the time 
in shift, and the circumstances of the injuries and illnesses 
classified by standardized codes (nature of the injury/illness, part of 
body affected, primary and secondary sources of the injury/illness, and 
the event or exposure which produced the injury/illness).
    Beginning with the 2011 survey year, BLS began testing the 
collection of case and demographic data for injury and illness cases 
that require only days of job transfer or restriction. The purpose of 
this on-going pilot study is to evaluate collection of these cases and 
to learn more about occupational injuries and illnesses that resulted 
in days of job transfer or work restriction.
    For survey year 2016, case circumstance and worker characteristic 
data for days of job transfer or work restriction cases will be 
collected for the following six NAICS* industry subsectors in private 
industry:

Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (NAICS 312)
General merchandise stores (NAICS 452)
Couriers and messengers (NAICS 492)
Waste management and remediation services (NAICS 562)
Hospitals (NAICS 622)
Accommodation (NAICS 721)

    BLS is analyzing the results of this test to determine the value of 
the resulting information and is looking at how best to implement the 
collection of these data as well as days away from work cases in future 
survey years. The BLS regards the collection of these cases with only 
job transfer or restriction as significant in its coverage of the 
American workforce.
    Starting in 2017, BLS is planning to conduct tests to determine the 
feasibility of collecting injury and illness data directly from workers 
in a household survey. The first test will be a large-scale, nationally 
representative household pilot survey that will allow BLS to test the 
collection of information over one calendar year and also to produce 
broad industry and occupation estimates comparable to the SOII. These 
tests will continue BLS research into ways to improve completeness of 
injury and illness measures.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility.
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected.
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
    OMB Number: 1220-0045.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Farms; State, Local or Tribal Governments.

                                                               Respondent Burden Estimates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                              Average time  per       Estimated  total
                Form                    Total respondents           Frequency           Total responses            response                burden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLS 9300...........................  240,000...............  Annually..............  240,000..............  .375 hour............  90,000 hours.
Pre-notification Package...........  162,000 out of 240,000  Annually..............  162,000 out of         1.36111 hours........  220,500 hours.
                                                                                      240,000.
TOTALS.............................  240,000...............  Annually..............  240,000..............  .....................  310,500.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 13th day of May 2016.
Kimberly Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2016-11777 Filed 5-18-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-24-P