[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5148-5150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00974]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2020-0021]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request--Child Strength Study

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) announces that 
CPSC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a new 
proposed collection of information for a study that will assess the 
strength capabilities of children. On August 31, 2020, CPSC published a 
notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency's intent to seek 
approval of this collection of information. After reviewing and 
considering the comments CPSC received, by publication of this notice, 
the Commission announces that CPSC has submitted to OMB a request for 
approval of this collection of information.

DATES: Submit written comments on this request for approval of 
information collection requirements by February 18, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to: 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting, ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments,'' or by using the search function. In addition, 
written comments that are sent to OMB also should be submitted 
electronically at: http://www.regulations.gov, under Docket No. CPSC-
2020-0021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Gillham, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 
504-7791, or by email to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520),

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federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is 
defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes agency 
data-collection studies. The PRA establishes procedures agencies must 
follow to obtain OMB approval for a collection of information, 
including notice and a review of comments, among others. Agencies must 
provide notice of the proposed collection of information in the Federal 
Register, and provide a 60-day comment period, before submitting the 
collection to OMB for approval. 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). Agencies then 
must evaluate any public comments and publish another notice in the 
Federal Register. Id. 3507(a)(1).
    In accordance with these procedures, on August 31, 2020, CPSC 
published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency's 
intent to seek approval of a new collection of information on a CPSC 
Child Strength Study that will assess the strength capabilities of 
children. 85 FR 53800 (Aug. 31, 2020). Section C. Comments, below, 
summarizes and addresses the comments CPSC received.

B. Study

    Section 5(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA; 15 U.S.C. 
2051-2089) authorizes the Commission to conduct studies and 
investigations relating to the causes and prevention of deaths, 
accidents, injuries, illnesses, other health impairments, and economic 
losses associated with consumer products. 15 U.S.C. 2054(a). Section 
5(b) of the CPSA further provides that the Commission may conduct 
research, studies, and investigations on the safety of consumer 
products or test consumer products and develop product safety test 
methods and testing devices. Id. 2054(b).
    CPSC uses data on human strength capabilities to develop product 
safety standards and inform other CPSC staff activities. CPSC's product 
safety work includes developing mandatory standards, enforcing existing 
safety requirements, and working with voluntary standards organizations 
to improve the safety of consumer products, including children's 
products. Products that are intended for children, and products that 
are not intended for children, can pose a hazard to a child (e.g., if 
the product or a component of it breaks, collapses, or liberates a 
small part). Information about children's strength capabilities is 
essential to improving product safety, because it can inform the 
development of performance requirements that consider children's 
interactions with product components. Manufacturers can also use this 
information when designing products.
    In the 1970s, CPSC sponsored studies to conduct research on human 
size and strength; specifically, Snyder et al. (1975 \1\ and 1977 \2\), 
studied child anthropometry and Owings et al. (1975 \3\ and 1977 \4\), 
studied child strength. The research results were instrumental for many 
years in developing product safety standards; however, because the 
strength studies occurred more than 40 years ago, the information needs 
to be updated. Moreover, more recent studies lack information on 
younger children and additional strength measures, and only collected 
data from a very small number of children. CPSC expects that the 
proposed information-collection activity would provide CPSC staff with 
information that reflects more accurately the strength capabilities of 
children today, as well as data that are not available in literature 
currently, including data on younger children and additional strength 
measures.
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    \1\ Snyder, R.G., Spencer, M.L., Owings, C.L., and Schneider, 
L.W. (1975). The Physical Characteristics of Children as Related to 
Death and Injury for Consumer Product Design and Use (Report No. UM-
HSRI-BI-75-5). Prepared for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission. Ann Arbor, MI: The Highway Safety Research Institute, 
University of Michigan.
    \2\ Snyder, R.G., Schneider, L.W., Owings, C.L., Reynolds, H.M., 
Golomb, D.H., and Schork, M.A. (1977). Anthropometry of Infants, 
Children, and Youths to Age 18 for Product Safety Design.Final 
Report UM-HSRI-77-17. University of Michigan Transportation Research 
Institute, Ann Arbor, MI. Prepared for the U.S. Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 014926-F.
    \3\ Owings, C.L., Chaffin, D.B., Snyder, R.G., and Norcutt, R.H. 
(1975). Strength Characteristics of U.S. Children for Product Safety 
Design. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethesda, MD.
    \4\ Owings, C.L., Norcutt, R.H., Snyder, R.G., Golomb, D.H., and 
Lloyd, K.Y. (1977). Gripping Strength Measurements of Children for 
Product Safety Design (Contract No. CPSC-C-76-0119).
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    The proposed study would collect data from a sample of up to 
approximately 800 children between the ages of 3 months and 5 years to 
assess children's strength capabilities. The proposed study would 
collect data on bite strength for children ages 3 months through 5 
years, and strength data for children ages 6 months through 5 years. 
The information collected from the proposed study would provide CPSC 
staff with updated child strength measures, including upper and lower 
extremities and bite strength for expanded age ranges. With this 
information, CPSC would have more accurate and current data for 
developing voluntary and mandatory safety standards. This information 
will also help staff to analyze injuries and deaths of children 
interacting with consumer products and determine whether a product 
presents a safety hazard.
    CPSC has contracted with the University of Michigan to conduct the 
proposed study and collect the data. A team of researchers at the 
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) will 
lead the study, and the study will be conducted at UMTRI Laboratories 
in Ann Arbor, MI. The contractor will recruit children to participate 
through their caregivers, using the University of Michigan Engage site, 
Craigslist, and flyers placed at UMTRI. The contractor will create a 
customized tool for data collection and feedback. The contractor will 
assign participants a random identification number that is not linked 
to any personal identifying information and will de-identify photos and 
videos of participants, taken to document their exertion postures, by 
blurring the faces. Participation will be voluntary, and information 
collected from participants will be kept confidential and used only for 
research purposes. Following data collection, the contractor will 
provide CPSC staff with raw strength and position data (with 
identifying information removed), as well as a final report. After CPSC 
staff has reviewed and approved the final report, CPSC will release the 
report on the agency's website and through presentations at meetings 
and conferences related to the subject matter, in accordance with 
applicable laws and Commission policy.
    A copy of the proposed study, titled, ``Child Strength Study-Final 
Supporting Statement and Justification,'' is available at: 
www.regulations.gov under Docket No. CPSC-2020-0021, Supporting and 
Related Material.

C. Comments

    CPSC received four comments in response to the August 31, 2020 
notice. All four commenters supported the information collection; 
however, two of the commenters also suggested specific or additional 
measures to collect or analyze as part of the study.
    One commenter recommended collecting metrics on children's hand 
grip strength, push strength, pull strength, push-up head strength, and 
seated leg press strength. CPSC already plans to collect information 
about children's hand grip strength, push strength, pull strength, and 
seated leg press strength, as part of this study. Although CPSC does 
not plan to collect information about children's push up head strength, 
the commenter suggested this measure for purposes of evaluating 
entrapment hazards, and CPSC already plans to collect children's head

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entrapment measures as part of the study.
    The same commenter also recommended directly correlating data with 
the age of the child tested, to provide more detailed information to 
identify safe product designs. CPSC plans to group data into 3-month, 
6-month, and 1-year age ranges, with smaller groupings for younger 
ages. Each age group will include approximately 50 participants. This 
approach will provide more age-specific information than previous 
studies, which grouped children into 3-year age ranges. CPSC could 
provide results for specific ages, however, this information would have 
limited use, because each specific age likely will have a small number 
of participants.
    Another commenter recommended collecting a wide range of 
information on static anthropometry, functional anthropometry, physical 
abilities, and psychological abilities. The static anthropometry 
measures (e.g., weight, head breadth) that the commenter requested 
would not require any modifications to the study. Rather, they would 
involve additional analysis of information that will already be 
collected as part of the body scan data in the study. CPSC agrees that 
this information may be useful and plans to request this additional 
data analysis as part of the final study report.
    In contrast, the functional anthropometry measures (e.g., overhead 
reach to grip) that the commenter requested would require modifying the 
study to collect additional measures. Based on study design and 
participant fatigue, child participants can only be in the laboratory 
for 2 hours. The data collection that is already part of the study will 
take 2 hours; additional measures would exceed the 2-hour allotted 
time. If CPSC determines, upon review of the final study report, that 
more information is necessary, and that additional measures need to be 
evaluated, staff will consider collecting supplemental information at 
that time.
    CPSC already plans to collect most of the physical abilities 
measures (e.g., pushing forward, pinch force) that the commenter 
recommended. CPSC is not collecting the psychological abilities 
measures (e.g., reaction time to visual stimuli) that the commenter 
requested because those measures are not within the scope of this 
study. The focus of this study is on children's anthropometrics and 
strength.
    This commenter also recommended compiling data for children from 
various countries, so that a comprehensive data set is available for 
companies that distribute products globally. CPSC cannot collect data 
from participants in other countries or compel other countries to 
collect child strength data. However, the data CPSC collects as part of 
this study will be publicly available, so interested parties may 
combine it with information from other countries to create a 
comprehensive data set.
    CPSC's review and consideration of the comments yielded no basis 
for modifying the supporting statement for the study. Therefore, by 
publication of this notice, the Commission announces that CPSC has 
submitted to OMB a request for approval of this collection of 
information.

D. Burden Hours

    The only change to the supporting statement corrects typographical 
errors to the burden hours for the federal government. The correct 
burden hours and costs are below. Although CPSC's 60-day Federal 
Register notice correctly stated these numbers, the supporting 
statement on www.Regulations.gov reflected slightly different numbers 
based on older Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. The final 
supporting statement, which is available in the docket for this notice, 
corrects those errors.
    CPSC estimates that the study will involve 3,050 respondents and 
take a total of 1,813 hours over the duration of the study. The 
monetized hourly cost for the adult caregiver of a participant is 
$37.73, as defined by the average total hourly cost to employers for 
employee compensation for all civilian employees across all occupations 
as of March 2020, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer 
Costs for Employee Compensation. Accordingly, CPSC estimates the total 
cost burden to be $68,404 (1,813 hours x $37.73 = $68,404).
    The estimated cost to the federal government for the contract to 
design and conduct the study issued to the University of Michigan under 
contract number 61320618D0004 is $1,134,502. The estimated salary and 
benefits costs for government personnel assigned to this study are 
$170,356, based on 12 staff months in 2020, at an average level of GS-
13 step 5 in the Washington, DC area, effective January 2020 ($116,353) 
and a 68.3 percent ratio of wages and salary to total compensation (all 
civilian management, professional, and related workers) from Table 2 of 
the March 2020 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, published by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Therefore, the total estimated cost to 
the federal government is $1,134,502 for the contract, plus $170,356 in 
government labor costs, for a total of $1,304,858.

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2021-00974 Filed 1-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P