[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 46 (Thursday, March 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13914-13915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05043]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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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. 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 reinstatement, with change of the 
Survey of Respirator Use and Practices.'' A copy of the

[[Page 13915]]

proposed information collection request 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 May 10, 2021.

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 email to [email protected].

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Survey of Respirator Use and Practices (SRUP) is a nationwide 
survey that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will conduct at the 
request of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH). Data collection for the SRUP will start in early 2022.
    In 2001, NIOSH partnered with BLS to conduct the first voluntary 
Survey of Respirator Use and Practices. This survey revealed important 
insights into respiratory use and hazards in the U.S. used by 
researchers, policy advisors, and regulators to further the mission of 
protecting U.S. workers from airborne hazards. Since then, there have 
been major shifts in the U.S. economy representing the potential for a 
drastic change in how respirators are used and the workers who may be 
at risk for occupational respiratory disease across a vast array of 
industrial settings. This calls for a contemporary understanding of the 
types of establishments, industries, and occupations that use 
respirators, why they use them, and how they manage them.
    In a 2007 assessment of the survey conducted by the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), both NIOSH 
and BLS were applauded ``for undertaking this pioneering data 
collection in order to improve understanding of respirator use in 
industry.'' The NASEM assessment further suggested that the survey 
fulfilled a necessary function of NIOSH's surveillance efforts. The 
committee recommended that NIOSH continue to address data needs to 
evaluate and improve NIOSH's respirator approval program by 
periodically updating the data to ensure that a current understanding 
of respirator use in the U.S. is maintained to inform accurate decision 
making in this area. This survey thereby follows the National 
Academies' research committee recommendations to provide a current 
understanding of respirator use in industry.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Survey of Respirator Use and Practices.
    NIOSH has a continuing need for more in-depth usage data to 
evaluate the approval of respiratory protective devices under 42 CFR 84 
CFR to pinpoint areas of non-conformance and where education and 
training efforts are needed. The data collected from the survey of 
Respirator use and Practices will be used by NIOSH to (1) establish 
prevalence of exposure to hazardous atmospheres, (2) determine the 
prevalence of respirator use, (3) determine the type of respirators 
being used and what types of contaminants they are being used to 
mitigate, (4) determine how respirators are used in the workplace, (5) 
whether employers optimally manage use for maximum worker protection, 
and (6) determine opportunities for improving respirator technologies. 
The survey also has the additional, newly added objective of 
determining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on respirator use in 
the workplace.
    Twenty years after the initial survey, NIOSH again is collaborating 
with BLS to administer a voluntary Survey of Respirator Use and 
Practices, thereby following the National Academies' research committee 
recommendations to provide a current understanding of respirator use in 
industry. By establishing the current state of practice, high yield 
endeavors designed to reduce fatalities, injuries and illnesses related 
to occupational respiratory hazards in the U.S. may be targeted for 
policy, funding, outreach, and education by NIOSH's respirator approval 
program, the programs of occupational safety and health regulatory 
bodies within the U.S. (OSHA and MSHA), U.S. employers, and respiratory 
protection research and development.

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.
    Title of Collection: Survey of Respirator Use and Practices.
    OMB Number: 1220-0171.
    Type of Review: Reinstatement, with change.
    Affected Public: Private Sector, Business or other for-profits, 
Not-for-profit institutions, Farms.
    Total Respondents: 90,000.
    Frequency: One time collection.
    Total Responses: 90,000.
    Average Time per Response: 28.5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 42,750 hours.
    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, on March 4, 2021.
Mark Staniorski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2021-05043 Filed 3-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P