[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68887-68888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27350]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-15-14APM]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted
the following information collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for the proposed
information collection is published to obtain comments from the public
and affected agencies.
Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected
agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are
encouraged. Your comments should address any of the following: (a)
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; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; (d) 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 submission of responses; and
(e) Assess information collection costs.
To request additional information on the proposed project or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Written comments and/or
suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice should be
directed to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and
Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Surveillance of Health-Related Workplace Absenteeism--[New]--
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
There is currently a high global human health risk from emerging
novel influenza, coronavirus and similar evolving pathogens, which is
prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to
enhance situational awareness capacity for emergency preparedness and
response.
During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus pandemic, NIOSH/CDC did a
pilot study to test the feasibility of using national surveillance of
workplace absenteeism to assess the pandemic's impact on the workplace
to plan for preparedness and continuity of operations and to contribute
to health awareness during the emergency response. As part of this
emergency effort, CDC contracted with the American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), which has access to a
large network of affiliated medical directors and corporate health
units that routinely compile absenteeism data, to conduct enhanced
passive surveillance of absenteeism using weekly data from a
convenience sample of sentinel worksites.
Due the emergency situation at that time, OMB approval was
erroneously not requested for the data collection activities associated
with the pilot study. The current request seeks to build off of the
data collected from the pilot and accounts for the burden involving all
of the participants.
From September 28, 2009, through March 31, 2010, 79 sentinel
worksites representing 16 different employers participated in the pilot
study. Each week, ACOEM collected reports of aggregated absenteeism
data from the medical directors of the participating companies using an
emailed, standardized form. ACOEM replaced company names with coded
unique identifiers, and sent the aggregated data to CDC/NIOSH for
analysis.
The major strengths of the sentinel worksite approach to
absenteeism surveillance were the use of existing, routinely collected
data and timeliness. The use of existing, routinely collected data made
the burden on participating companies negligible. Data were routinely
compiled and thus could be collected and analyzed in near real time,
making this approach useful, in principle, for providing current
situational awareness and actionable intelligence that could be used to
inform, prioritize, and evaluate intervention efforts during the
pandemic. On the other hand, there were several limitations to the
sentinel worksite surveillance done in 2009-2010, and the activity was
not maintained after the H1N1 pandemic ended.
At present, two new emerging infectious diseases, novel H7N9
influenza virus and a coronavirus circulating in the Middle East, have
demonstrated the need to build additional capacity for national
surveillance for health-related workplace absenteeism so that it can be
used to monitor the impact of these or any other disease that might
reach pandemic potential and spread to the U.S.
NIOSH/CDC requests permission to collect company absenteeism data,
to be able to assess the impact of disease on a company and to identify
trends in the spread of influenza or other novel disease states. This
will provide an additional monitoring system to CDC. The proposed
project builds on the 2009/10 initiative and modifies the reporting
format to collect information on a daily versus weekly basis. The
companies in the program will be those that routinely collect
absenteeism data thus the burden will be minimal. We will be asking
companies to record their daily absenteeism numbers into an excel file
which can be emailed to ACOEM on a weekly or monthly basis. The excel
file will be pre-populated with company name, site and dates to ease
the reporting burden on companies.
ACOEM will transmit de-identified information on a weekly or
monthly basis to NIOSH/CDC who will in turn conduct analysis on an
aggregate basis. Data will be compiled by state and HHS region, as well
as nationally to allow for trend analysis.
The initial 16 respondents in the 2009/10 study will be asked to
participate and an additional 12 companies have indicated an interest
in participating in the data collection activity. The employee
population among these 28 companies is approximately 293,000.
The annualized estimated burden of time is 607 hours for the 28
respondents in the study. Respondents will complete the form daily; no
more than 5 minutes per day/per respondent which translates to 25
minutes per week/per respondent or 700 minutes per week for all
respondents. This results in an
[[Page 68888]]
annualized burden of 607 hours per year.
There are no costs to participants other than the time.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden
Type of respondent Form name Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
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Private companies................... EXCEL data template.... 28 260 5/60
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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. 2014-27350 Filed 11-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P