[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27454-27456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08088]


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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 revision of the ``Survey of 
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.'' A copy of the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) 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 June 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room G225, 
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, 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll-free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 27455]]

I. Background

    Section 24(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
requires the Secretary of Labor to develop and maintain an effective 
program of collection, compilation, and analysis of statistics on 
occupational injuries and illnesses. The Commissioner of Labor 
Statistics has been delegated the responsibility for ``Furthering the 
purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by developing and 
maintaining an effective program of collection, compilation, analysis 
and publication of occupational safety and health statistics.'' The BLS 
fulfills this responsibility, in part, by conducting the Survey of 
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in conjunction with participating 
State statistical agencies. The BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and 
Illnesses provides the Nation's primary indicator of the progress 
towards achieving the goal of safer and healthier workplaces. The 
survey produces the overall rate of occurrence of work injuries and 
illnesses by industry which can be compared to prior years to produce 
measures of the rate of change. These data are used to assess the 
Nation's progress in improving the safety and health of America's work 
places; to prioritize scarce Federal and State resources; to guide the 
development of injury and illness prevention strategies; and to support 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and State safety 
and health standards and research. Data are essential for evaluating 
the effectiveness of Federal and State programs for improving work 
place safety and health. For these reasons, it is necessary to provide 
estimates separately for participating States.
    Effective with the release of estimates from the Survey of 
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) in November 2023, the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics (BLS) introduced the publication of a new biennial 
case and demographic data series for cases that involve days of job 
transfer or restriction (DJTR). The first release of this new series 
covered the 2021-22 biennial reference period. This shift significantly 
changed the SOII news release and how publication tables are presented 
to provide additional data on the case circumstances and worker 
demographics for DJTR cases, in addition to details that have long been 
published for cases involving days away from work (DAFW). Biennial 
estimates for DJTR and DAFW are now released together. Summary industry 
estimates, produced annually, remain unchanged.
    Starting with reference year 2023 data, the circumstances of injury 
and illness cases are coded using the updated Occupational Injury and 
Illness Classification System (OIICS), version 3. (See https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/occupational-injuries-and-illnesses-classification-manual.htm for more information on OIICS.) Estimates of 
detailed case circumstances for DJTR and DAFW using OIICS 3 will first 
be published in the SOII news release in November 2025, covering the 
2023-24 biennial reference period.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The survey measures the 
overall rate of occurrence of work injuries and illnesses by industry 
for private industry, State governments, and local governments. For 
more serious injuries and illnesses with days away from work (DAFW) or 
with days of job transfer or restriction (DJTR), the survey provides 
detailed information on the injured/ill worker (age, sex, race, 
industry, occupation, and length of service), the time in shift, and 
the circumstances of the injuries and illnesses classified by 
standardized codes (nature of the injury/illness, part of body 
affected, primary and secondary sources of the injury/illness, and the 
event or exposure which produced the injury/illness).
    The SOII is a mandatory survey that has traditionally experienced 
relatively high response rates compared to other establishment surveys. 
However, the SOII response rate has been trending lower for several 
years and was significantly impacted by the pandemic. BLS will conduct 
a one-year test with a small sample of survey participants to evaluate 
the effectiveness of an additional respondent contact for improving 
response rates.

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 Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
    OMB Number: 1220-0045.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit 
institutions; farms; State, local or Tribal governments.

                                      BLS 9300 Respondent Burden Estimates
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                                                                                   Average time
             Form                    Total          Frequency          Total       per response      Estimated
                                  respondents                        responses       (minutes)     burden hours
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Total Recording Burden........          85,800  Annually........          85,800          71.049         101,600
Total Reporting Burden........         228,200  Annually........         228,200          29.791         113,304
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    Totals....................         228,200  Annually........         228,200  ..............         214,904
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[[Page 27456]]

    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, this 10th day of April 2024.
Eric Molina,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Branch of Policy Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2024-08088 Filed 4-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P