[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6185-6186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02887]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-18-18LQ; Docket No. CDC-2018-0015]


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 effort to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled ``Assessment of Occupational 
Injury among Fire Fighters Using a Follow-back Survey.'' The purpose of 
this project is to collect follow-back telephone interview data from 
injured and exposed fire fighters treated in emergency departments 
(EDs) and produce a descriptive summary of these injuries and 
exposures.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before April 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2018-
0015 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. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all Federal comments 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 the OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. 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;
    2. 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;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. 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.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Assessment of Occupational Injury among Fire Fighters Using a 
Follow-back Survey--New--National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Studies have reported that fire fighters have high rates of non-
fatal injuries and illnesses as compared to the general worker 
population. As fire fighters undertake many critical public safety 
activities and are tasked with protecting the safety and health of the 
public, it follows that understanding and preventing injuries and 
exposures among fire fighters will have a benefit

[[Page 6186]]

reaching beyond the workers to the general public.
    As mandated in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Pub. 
L. 91-596), the mission of NIOSH is to conduct research and 
investigations on occupational safety and health. Related to this 
mission, the purpose of this project is to conduct research that will 
provide a detailed description of non-fatal occupational injuries and 
exposures incurred by fire fighters. This information will offer 
detailed insight into events that lead to the largest number of 
nonfatal injuries and exposures among fire fighters. The project will 
use two related data sources. The first source is data abstracted from 
medical records of fire fighters treated in a nationally stratified 
sample of emergency departments. These data are routinely collected 
through the occupational supplement to the National Electronic Injury 
Surveillance System (Neiss-Work). The second data source, for which 
NIOSH is seeking OMB approval for three years, is responses to 
telephone interview surveys of the injured and exposed fire fighters 
identified within Neiss-Work.
    The proposed telephone interview surveys will supplement Neiss-Work 
data with an extensive description of fire fighter injuries and 
exposures, including worker characteristics, injury types, injury 
circumstances, injury outcomes, and use of personal protective 
equipment. Previous reports describing occupational injuries and 
exposures to fire fighters provide limited details on specific regions 
or sub-segments of the population. As compared to these earlier 
studies, the scope of the telephone interview data will be broader as 
it includes sampled cases nationwide and has no limitations in regards 
to type of employment (i.e., volunteer versus career). Results from the 
telephone interviews will be weighted and reported as national 
estimates.
    The sample size for the telephone interview survey is estimated to 
be approximately 240 fire fighters annually for the proposed three year 
duration of the study. This is based on the number of fire fighters 
identified in previous years of Neiss-Work data and a 30 to 40% 
response rate that is comparable to the rate of previously conducted 
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System telephone interview 
studies. Each telephone interview will take approximately 30 minutes to 
complete, resulting in an annualized burden estimate of 120 hours. 
Using the routine Neiss-Work data, an analysis of all identified EMS 
workers will be performed to determine if there are differences between 
the telephone interview responder and non-responder groups.
    The Division of Safety Research (DSR) within NIOSH is conducting 
this project. DSR has a strong interest in improving surveillance of 
fire fighter injuries and exposures to provide the information 
necessary for effectively targeting and implementing prevention efforts 
and, consequently, reducing occupational injuries and exposures to fire 
fighters. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will also 
contribute to this project, as they are responsible for coordinating 
the collection of all Neiss-Work data and for overseeing the collection 
of all telephone interview data.
    There is no cost to respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total  burden
      Type of respondents           Form name       respondents    responses per   response  (in    (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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Fire fighters.................  Follow-back                  240               1           30/60             120
                                 survey.
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    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             120
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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. 2018-02887 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P