[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7475-7477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02623]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-15-15EC]
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
Improving Organizational Management and Worker Behavior through
Worksite Communication--New--National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
NIOSH, under Public Law 91-596, Sections 20 and 22 (Section 20-22,
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1977) has the responsibility to
conduct research relating to innovative methods, techniques, and
approaches dealing with occupational safety and health problems.
This research assesses best practices for communicating and
employing a strategic health and safety management system (HSMS) to
facilitate workers' health and safety behaviors, including ways that
lateral communication from management influences worker perceptions and
behaviors. Currently, ambivalence exists about how to strategically
communicate aspects of an HSMS top-down in the mining industry.
Research indicates that, to answer questions about effectively using an
HSMS to improve safety, research needs to follow a sample of workplaces
over time, measuring the introduction or utilization of an HSMS and
then measuring outcomes of interest at the workplace level and worker
level.
Therefore, analyzing workers' perceptions of the organization's
HSMS, leaders' implementation of the organization's HSMS, and
communication gaps between these two groups, may provide more insight
into the best, most feasible practices and approaches to worker H&S
performance within a system. This project is initiating such an
approach by implementing a series of multilevel intervention (MLI) case
studies that assess the utility of a safety system that includes
aspects of both safety management on the organizational level and
behavior-based safety on the worker level. By studying these levels
separately and introducing an
[[Page 7476]]
intervention to bridge these two groups together to improve safety, the
communication practices within an HSMS may be enhanced.
NIOSH proposes a 3 year approval for a project that seeks to
empirically understand what HSMS communication practices are important
for mine worker H&S and how those practices can be developed,
implemented, and maintained over time via desired communication from
mine site leadership. The following questions guide this study:
What impact does the MLI communication model that was designed and
implemented have on: (1) Workers' health/safety behaviors, including
those that lower exposure to dust; (2) workers' perceptions of their
organization's values; and (3) changes in managers' strategic HSMS
communication and implementation with workers to facilitate health/
safety performance, including those that lower exposure to dust.
To answer the above questions, NIOSH researchers developed a
multilevel intervention (MLI) that focuses on both management and
workers' communication about, and subsequent actions taken, to reduce
respirable dust exposure over time. This MLI will inform how leadership
communicates to their employees and what affect(s) this communication
has on individual behavior such as corrective dust actions taken by
workers. By assessing the ongoing safety/health interactions between
individual workers and their organizational capacities (i.e. levels of
leadership and management of safety), and how these interactions
influence and shape personal H&S performance, we can better understand
what aspects of both systems need attention in a merged, more balanced
and comprehensive system of health and safety management (DeJoy, 2005).
Specifically, this project is using mine technology, the Helmet-
CAM, as a communication medium to help merge these two worksite
systems. Previous research indicates that the use of information
technology can enhance lateral and horizontal communication within
organizations, showing support for using the Helmet-CAM in the current
study (Hinds & Kiesler, 1995). NIOSH researchers can analyze what and
how communication practices should be implemented to influence worker
perceptions of their organization's H&S values and how this impacts
their subsequent H&S behavior. Eventually, practices used to influence
behavior related to dust control can be extrapolated to inform ways to
communicate about and manage additional health/safety problems within
the industry via an HSMS as implemented by site leaders.
The Helmet-CAM incorporates video footage and real-time dust
measurements of workers while performing their job duties and tasks in
various locations throughout the workday. This technology has been a
viable assessment tool to provide a comparison of where and when miners
are exposed to their highest respirable dust concentrations. As a
result, Helmet-CAM technology is being employed at many mines as a way
to identify dust exposures of workers and to help reduce dust hazards
in the environment. However, we do not yet know how mine site
management is using, if at all, this technology to communicate with
workers about their personal health and safety behaviors. Discussions
about the tasks workers perform when exposure levels are high and what
actions they can take to reduce their dust exposure may be valuable to
the industry in helping advance the way engineering-control technology
is used from a behavioral vantage point as well.
Previous research (Yorio et al. 2014) identified three areas that
influence the relationship between the strategic HSMS and its overall
success in implementing and encouraging worker behavior change:
Worksite leadership, organizational values, and worker perceptions and
interpretations of management. Data on these three contingencies are
collected from the management and worker levels during three time
points throughout a six-week intervention to assess the ongoing
communication via the Helmet-CAM and effects of the communication on
behavior. Data collection and analysis pertaining to these three areas
may occur via a pre/post survey with workers and pre/mid/post
interviews/focus groups with workers and mine site leaders, some of
which include dialogue around Helmet-CAM footage as provided by the
workers who choose to participate.
NIOSH proposes this intervention design at a minimum of three and
no more than five industrial mineral metal/nonmetal mine sites. All of
the data collection instruments have been used in previous studies to
examine worker and leadership variables and factors. Therefore, NIOSH
knows that the data collection instruments are valid and reliable to
use in studying the worker and leader levels simultaneously, within the
same mine. Industrial mineral sites will be recruited who have inquired
interest in learning how to use the Helmet-CAM on their site and/or
interest in improving their site wide communication efforts. Only a
small sample of workers will participate at each mine site because of
the time required for completion and to ensure the longitudinal data
can be adequately collected over the six weeks. In other words, we
would rather collect data multiple times with the same worker and have
fewer participants than collect data from more workers but not have the
ability to appropriately follow-up during the subsequent two visits.
Data collection will take place with no more than 150 mine workers
and 30 mine site leaders over three years. The respondents targeted for
this study includes any active mine worker and any active site leader
at an industrial mineral metal/nonmetal mine. It is estimated that a
sample of up to 150 mine workers will participate in the intervention,
which includes wearing the Helmet-CAM for a portion of their job tasks
(no more than two hours total) during three time periods (when NIOSH is
present during the field visit). In addition to wearing the Helmet-CAM,
workers will be asked to complete a pre and post-test survey (~15
minutes) and an interview during three time points throughout the study
(~30 minutes each). The interviews include a debriefing of Helmet-CAM
footage with participants at various mining operations who agreed to
participate. It also is estimated that a sample of up to 30 mine site
leaders will participate in interviews/focus groups about HSMS
practices at the same participating mining operations. The interviews/
focus groups also occur three times during each of the NIOSH field
visits and will take no more than 45 minutes each. All participants
will be between the ages of 18 and 75, currently employed, and living
in the United States. Participation will require no more than 4.5 hours
of workers' time over the six-week intervention and no more than 2.5
hours of site leaders' time over the six-week intervention period.
There are 278 total burden hours. There is no cost to respondents
other than their time.
[[Page 7477]]
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of burden per
Type of respondents Form name respondents responses per response (in
respondent hours)
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Mine Site Leaders/Managers......... Mine Recruitment Script.... 10 1 5/60
Pre/Mid/Post HSMS Interview/ 10 3 45/60
Focus Group Questions.
Mine Worker........................ Mine Worker Recruitment 50 1 5/60
Script.
Mine Worker Survey......... 50 2 15/60
Pre/Mid/Post Behaviors and 50 3 90/60
Helmet-CAM Interview
Questions.
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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. 2015-02623 Filed 2-9-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P