[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24971-24973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11111]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-17-0260; Docket No. CDC-2017-0050]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 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 
revision of the information collection project titled ``Health Hazard 
Evaluation and Technical Assistance--Requests and Emerging Problems.'' 
This data collection supports legislatively mandated (PL 91-596) 
assistance investigating emerging occupational hazards in workplaces.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 31, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2017-
0050 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.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 Leroy A. Richardson, 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.

Proposed Project

    Health Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance--Requests and 
Emerging Problems (OMB Control No.

[[Page 24972]]

0920-0260, Expiration 11/30/2017)--Revision--National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    In accordance with its mandates under the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 
the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
responds to requests for health hazard evaluations (HHE) to identify 
chemical, biological or physical hazards in workplaces throughout the 
United States. Each year, NIOSH receives approximately 290 such 
requests. Most HHE requests come from the following types of companies: 
service, manufacturing, health and social services, transportation, 
agriculture, mining, skilled trade and construction. NIOSH is 
requesting a three year approval time.
    A printed Health Hazard Evaluation request form is available in 
English and in Spanish. The form is also available on the Internet and 
differs from the printed version only in format and in the fact that it 
can be submitted directly from the Web site. The request form takes an 
estimated 12 minutes to complete. The form provides the mechanism for 
employees, employers, and other authorized representatives to supply 
the information required by the regulations governing the NIOSH Health 
Hazard Evaluation program (42 CFR 85.3-1). If employees are submitting 
the form it must contain the signatures of three or more current 
employees. However, regulations allow a single signature if the 
requestor: is one of three (3) or fewer employees in the process, 
operation, or job of concern; or is any officer of a labor union 
representing the employees for collective bargaining purposes. An 
individual management official may request an evaluation on behalf of 
the employer. The information provided is used by NIOSH to determine 
whether there is reasonable cause to justify conducting an 
investigation and provides a mechanism to respond to the requestor.
    NIOSH reviews the HHE request to determine if an on-site evaluation 
is needed. The primary purpose of an on-site evaluation is to help 
employers and employees identify and eliminate occupational health 
hazards. For 40% of the requests received NIOSH determines an on-site 
evaluation is needed. When an on-site evaluation is not done, NIOSH 
prepares and provides a written report after gathering information from 
the requester(s) and reviewing available exposure and health records.
    In about 70% of on-site evaluations (presently estimated to be 122 
facilities a year) employees are interviewed individually to learn 
about health problems and possible contributing factors at work. 
Interviews may take approximately 15 minutes per respondent. The 
interview questions are specific to each workplace and its suspected 
diseases and hazards. However, interviews are based on standard medical 
practices.
    In approximately 30% of on-site evaluations that involve employee 
interviews (presently estimated to be 37 out of 122 facilities a year), 
questionnaires are distributed to the employees (averaging about 100 
employees per site). Questionnaires may require approximately 30 
minutes to complete. The survey questions are specific to each 
workplace and its suspected diseases and hazards, however, items in the 
questionnaires are derived from standardized or widely used medical and 
epidemiologic data collection instruments.
    About 70% of the on-site evaluations involve employee exposure 
monitoring in the workplace. Employees who agree to participate wear a 
sampler or monitoring device to measure personal workplace exposures. 
They are offered the opportunity to get a written notice of their 
exposure results. To indicate their preference, employees complete a 
contact card. Completing a contact card may take 5 minutes or less. The 
number of employees monitored for workplace exposures per on-site 
evaluation may vary from none up to about 25. In some instances, 
however, the number can be much greater.
    NIOSH distributes interim and final reports of health hazard 
evaluations, excluding personal identifiers, to: Requesters, employers, 
employee representatives; the Department of Labor (Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration or Mine Safety and Health Administration, as 
appropriate); state health departments; and, as needed, other state and 
federal agencies.
    NIOSH administers a follow-back program to assess the effectiveness 
of its HHE program in reducing workplace hazards. NIOSH distributes 
follow-back questionnaires to the primary employer and employee 
representative at all the workplaces where NIOSH conducted an on-site 
evaluation. In a small number of instances, a follow-back on-site 
evaluation may be completed. The first follow-back questionnaire is 
distributed shortly after the first visit for an on-site evaluation and 
takes about 10 minutes to complete. A second follow-back questionnaire 
is distributed a month after the final report and requires about 20 
minutes to complete. At 24 months, a third follow-back questionnaire is 
distributed which takes about 15 minutes to complete.
    For requests where NIOSH does not conduct an on-site evaluation, 
the requestor receives the first follow-back questionnaire 1 month 
after our report and a second one 12 months after our response. The 
first questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete and the second 
questionnaire takes about 15 minutes to complete.
    Because of the number of investigations conducted each year, the 
need to respond quickly to requests for assistance, the diverse and 
unpredictable nature of these investigations, and its follow-back 
program to assess evaluation effectiveness; NIOSH requests a 
consolidated clearance for data collections performed within the domain 
of its HHE program. There is no cost to respondents other than their 
time. The total estimated annual burden hours is 2,960.

                                       Estimate of Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                    Number of       Number of       burden per     Total burden
      Type of respondent             Form          respondents    responses per    response  in        hours
                                                                    respondent         hours
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Employees and Representatives  Health Hazard                203                1           12/60              41
                                Evaluation
                                Request Form.
Employers....................  Health Hazard                 87                1           12/60              18
                                Evaluation
                                Request Form.
Employees....................  Health Hazard              2,580                1           15/60             645
                                Evaluation
                                specific
                                interview
                                example.

[[Page 24973]]

 
Employees....................  Health Hazard              3,700                1           30/60           1,850
                                Evaluation
                                specific
                                questionnaire
                                example.
Employees....................  Contact                    2,150                1            5/60             180
                                information
                                post card.
Employees and                  First followback             244                1           10/60              41
 Representatives; Employers--   questionnaire.              244                1           20/60              82
 Year 1 (on-site evaluation).  Second
                                followback
                                questionnaire.
Employees and                  Third followback             244                1           15/60              61
 Representatives; Employers--   questionnaire.
 Year 2 (on-site evaluation).
Employees and                  First followback              98                1           10/60              17
 Representatives; Employers--   questionnaire.
 Year 1 (without on-site
 evaluation).
Employees and                  Second                        98                1           15/60              25
 Representatives; Employers--   followback
 Year 2 (without on-site        questionnaire.
 evaluation).
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    Total....................  ................  ..............  ...............  ..............           2,960
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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. 2017-11111 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P