[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64878-64880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22696]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2009-0102]


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request--Follow-Up Activities 
for Product-Related Injuries

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or 
CPSC) announces that it has submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) a request for extension of approval of a collection of 
information from persons who have been involved in or have witnessed 
incidents associated with consumer products.

DATES: Written comments on this request for extension of approval of 
information collection requirements should be submitted by October 21, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: OMB recommends that written comments be faxed to the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: CPSC Desk Officer, 
FAX: 202-395-6974, or emailed to [email protected]. All 
comments should be identified by Docket No. CPSC-2009-0102. In 
addition, written comments also should be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov, under Docket No. CPSC-2009-0102, or by mail/hand 
delivery/courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions), preferably 
in five copies, to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 
20814; telephone (301) 504-7923. For access to the docket to read 
background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert H. Squibb, U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East

[[Page 64879]]

West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone: 301-504-7923 or by email 
to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Federal Register of June 22, 2016 (81 
FR 40677), the CPSC published a notice in accordance with provisions of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) to announce 
the CPSC's intention to seek extension of approval of a collection of 
information on product-related injuries or incidents. No comments were 
received in response to that notice. Therefore, by publication of this 
notice, the Commission announces that it has submitted to OMB a request 
for extension of approval of that collection of information without 
change.

A. Background

    Section 5(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2054(a), 
requires the Commission to collect information related to the causes 
and prevention of death, injury, and illness associated with consumer 
products. That section also requires the Commission to conduct 
continuing studies and investigations of deaths, injuries, diseases, 
other health impairments, and economic losses resulting from accidents 
involving consumer products.
    The Commission obtains information about product-related deaths, 
injuries, and illnesses from a variety of sources, including 
newspapers, death certificates, consumer complaints, and medical 
facilities. In addition, the Commission receives information through 
its Internet Web site through forms reporting on product-related 
injuries or incidents.
    The Commission also operates a surveillance system known as the 
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) that provides 
timely data on consumer product-related injuries treated as well as 
U.S. childhood poisonings. NEISS data comes from a statistically valid 
sample from approximately 100 hospital emergency departments. The NEISS 
system has been in operation since 1971. NEISS emergency department 
records are reviewed by hospital employees or contractors (NEISS 
respondents).
    From these sources, Commission staff selects cases of interest for 
further investigation by face-to-face or telephone interviews with 
persons who witnessed, or were injured in, incidents involving consumer 
products. The CPSC plans to begin conducting investigations through 
internet-based questionnaires in the next year to supplement telephone 
interviews. On-site investigations are usually made in cases where CPSC 
staff need photographs of the incident site, the product involved, or 
detailed information about the incident. This information can come from 
face-to-face interviews with persons who were injured or who witnessed 
the incident, as well as contact with state and local officials, 
including police, coroners, and fire investigators, and others with 
knowledge of the incident.
    The Commission uses the information to support the development and 
improvement of voluntary standards; rulemaking proceedings; information 
and education campaigns; compliance and enforcement efforts and related 
administrative and judicial proceedings. Commission activities are, in 
many cases, data driven, and incident data is crucial in advancing the 
agency's mission. In addition, the CPSC also collects information 
through NEISS for other federal agencies through Interagency Agreements 
including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
    OMB approved the collection of information concerning product-
related injuries under control number 3041-0029. OMB's most recent 
extension of approval will expire on September 30, 2016. The Commission 
now proposes to request an extension of approval of this collection of 
information.

B. NEISS Estimated Burden

    The NEISS system collects information on consumer-product related 
injuries from about 100 hospitals in the U.S. Respondents to NEISS 
include hospitals that directly report information to NEISS and 
hospitals that allow CPSC contractors to collect the data on behalf of 
the agency. In FY 2015, there were 137 NEISS respondents (total 
hospitals and CPSC contractors). The NEISS respondents reviewed an 
estimated 5.05 million emergency department records and reported 
739,673 total cases.
    Collecting emergency department records for review each day takes 
about 10 minutes. Each record takes about 30 seconds to review. Coding 
and reporting records that involve consumer products or other injuries 
takes about 2 minutes per record. Coding and reporting additional 
special study information takes about 90 seconds per record. 
Respondents also spend about 36 hours per year in related activities 
(training, evaluations, and communicating with other hospital staff).
    The total burden hours for all NEISS respondents are estimated to 
be 81,210 for FY2015. The average burden hour per respondent is 593 
hours. However, the total burden hour on each respondent varies due to 
differences in size of the hospital (e.g., small rural hospitals versus 
large metropolitan hospitals). The smallest hospital reported 202 cases 
with a burden of about 111 hours, while the largest hospital reported 
60,405 cases with a burden of about 4,222 hours.
    The total costs to NEISS respondents for FY2015 are estimated to be 
$3,271,621 per year. NEISS respondents enter into contracts with CPSC 
and are compensated for these costs. The average cost per respondent is 
estimated to be about $23,880. The average cost per burden hour is 
estimated to be $40.29 per hour (including wages and overhead). 
However, the actual cost to each respondent varies due to the type of 
respondent (hospital versus CPSC contractor), size of hospital, and 
regional differences in wages and overhead. Therefore, the actual 
annual cost for any given respondent may vary between $1,199 at a small 
rural hospital and $281,953 at the largest metropolitan hospital.

C. Other Burden Hours

    In cases that require more information regarding product-related 
incidents or injuries, the CPSC staff conducted face-to-face interviews 
of approximately 220 persons each year. On average, an on-site 
interview takes about 4.5 hours. CPSC staff also conducts about 1760 
in-depth investigations by telephone. Each in-depth telephone 
investigation requires about 20 minutes. In addition, staff is planning 
to conduct about 200 internet-based questionnaires per year that 
require about 20 minutes each.
    The CPSC staff estimates 1,643 annual burden hours on these 
respondents: 989 hours for face-to-face interviews; 587 hours for in-
depth telephone interviews, and 67 hours for internet-based 
questionnaires. The burden required for reporting is estimated at 
$32.82 an hour (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``Employer Costs for 
Employee Compensation,'' March 2016, Table 9, Total compensation for 
all sales and office workers in goods-producing industries: http://www.bls.gov/ncs). At this valuation, the estimated annual cost to the 
public is about $53,923.
    This request for the approval of an estimated 82,853 (81,210 NEISS 
and 1,643 other) burden hours per year is an increase of 37,845 hours 
since this collection of information was last approved by OMB in 2013. 
The increase in the burden hours is largely due to the inclusion of 
information collected through NEISS for other federal agencies through 
Interagency Agreements including CDC and NHTSA, which were

[[Page 64880]]

not otherwise accounted for by those agencies. In order to account for 
all the burden hours associated with the NEISS information collection, 
we have added those hours to the collection of information. The 
increase in burden hours also includes the increase associated with 
offering internet-based questionnaires in addition to in-person and 
telephone interviews.
    This information collection request excludes the burden associated 
with other publicly available Consumer Product Safety Information 
Databases, such as internet complaints, Hotline, and Medical Examiners 
and Coroners Alert Project (MECAP) reports, which are approved under 
OMB control number 3041-0146. This information collection request also 
excludes the burden associated with follow-up investigations conducted 
by other federal agencies.
    The annual cost to the government of the collection of the NEISS 
information is estimated to be about $4.9 million a year. This estimate 
includes $3.3 million in compensation to NEISS respondents described in 
section 12(a) above. This estimate also includes $1.603 million for 
about 150 CPSC professional staff months each year. The estimate of 
professional staff months includes the time required to: Oversee NEISS 
operations (e.g., administration, training, quality control); prepare 
questionnaires, interviewer guidelines, and other instruments and 
instructions used to collect the information; conduct face-to-face and 
telephone interviews; and evaluate responses obtained from interviews 
and completed forms. Each month of professional staff time costs the 
Commission about $10,683.83. This is based on a GS-12 mid-level 
salaried employee. The average yearly wage rate for a mid-level 
salaried GS-12 employee in the Washington, DC metropolitan area 
(effective as of January 2016) is $87,821 (GS-12, step 5). This 
represents 68.5 percent of total compensation (U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, ``Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,'' March 2016, 
Table 1, percentage of wages and salaries for all civilian management, 
professional, and related employees: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/). Adding 
an additional 31.5 percent for benefits brings average yearly 
compensation for a mid-level salaried GS-12 employee to $128,206.

    Dated: September 16, 2016.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-22696 Filed 9-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6355-01-P