[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 97 (Thursday, May 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31666-31667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11777]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Proposed Collection, Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
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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 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. 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 July 18, 2016.
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 fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free
number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 24(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
requires the Secretary of Labor to develop and
[[Page 31667]]
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.
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 the
more serious injuries and illnesses, those with days away from work,
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).
Beginning with the 2011 survey year, BLS began testing the
collection of case and demographic data for injury and illness cases
that require only days of job transfer or restriction. The purpose of
this on-going pilot study is to evaluate collection of these cases and
to learn more about occupational injuries and illnesses that resulted
in days of job transfer or work restriction.
For survey year 2016, case circumstance and worker characteristic
data for days of job transfer or work restriction cases will be
collected for the following six NAICS* industry subsectors in private
industry:
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (NAICS 312)
General merchandise stores (NAICS 452)
Couriers and messengers (NAICS 492)
Waste management and remediation services (NAICS 562)
Hospitals (NAICS 622)
Accommodation (NAICS 721)
BLS is analyzing the results of this test to determine the value of
the resulting information and is looking at how best to implement the
collection of these data as well as days away from work cases in future
survey years. The BLS regards the collection of these cases with only
job transfer or restriction as significant in its coverage of the
American workforce.
Starting in 2017, BLS is planning to conduct tests to determine the
feasibility of collecting injury and illness data directly from workers
in a household survey. The first test will be a large-scale, nationally
representative household pilot survey that will allow BLS to test the
collection of information over one calendar year and also to produce
broad industry and occupation estimates comparable to the SOII. These
tests will continue BLS research into ways to improve completeness of
injury and illness measures.
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.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
OMB Number: 1220-0045.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions; Farms; State, Local or Tribal Governments.
Respondent Burden Estimates
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Average time per Estimated total
Form Total respondents Frequency Total responses response burden
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BLS 9300........................... 240,000............... Annually.............. 240,000.............. .375 hour............ 90,000 hours.
Pre-notification Package........... 162,000 out of 240,000 Annually.............. 162,000 out of 1.36111 hours........ 220,500 hours.
240,000.
TOTALS............................. 240,000............... Annually.............. 240,000.............. ..................... 310,500.
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Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
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 13th day of May 2016.
Kimberly Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2016-11777 Filed 5-18-16; 8:45 am]
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