Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice with comment period.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on an Extension of a previously approved information collection project titled Assessment of Occupational Injury among Fire Fighters Using a Follow-back Survey. The purpose of this project is to collect follow-back telephone interview data from injured and exposed firefighters treated in emergency departments (EDs) and produce a descriptive summary of these injuries and exposures.

DATES:

CDC must receive written comments on or before September 17, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2021-0063 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments to Regulations.gov.

Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking portal (regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a proposed data collection as described below.

The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:

1. 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;

2. 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;

3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;

4. 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; and

5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

Assessment of Occupational Injury among Fire Fighters Using a Follow-back Survey (OMB Control No. 0920-1244)—Extension—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Studies have reported that firefighters have high rates of non-fatal injuries and illnesses as compared to the general worker population. As firefighters perform critical public safety activities and protect the safety and health of the public, it follows that understanding and preventing injuries and exposures among firefighters will have a benefit reaching beyond the workers to the public.

As mandated in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-596), the mission of NIOSH is to conduct research and investigations on occupational safety and health. Related to this mission, the purpose of this project is to conduct research that will provide a detailed description of non-fatal occupational injuries and exposures incurred by firefighters. This information will offer detailed insight into events that lead to the largest number of nonfatal injuries and exposures among firefighters. The project will use two related data sources. The first source is data abstracted from medical records of firefighters treated in a nationally stratified sample of emergency departments. These data are routinely collected through the occupational supplement to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS-Work). The second data source, for which NIOSH is seeking OMB approval, is responses to telephone interview surveys of the injured and exposed firefighters identified within NEISS-Work.

The proposed one-year extension of the telephone interview surveys will supplement NEISS-Work data with a description of firefighter injuries and exposures, including worker characteristics, injury types, injury circumstances, injury outcomes, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Previous reports describing occupational injuries and exposures to firefighters provide limited details on specific regions or sub-segments of the population. As compared to these earlier studies, the scope of the telephone interview data will be broader, as it includes sampled cases nationwide, and has no limitations regarding type of employment (i.e., volunteer versus career). Results from telephone interviews will be analyzed and reported as a case series.

The sample size for the telephone interview survey is estimated to be approximately 35 firefighters annually. This is based on the current survey completion rate of about 11%. While this completion rate is lower than originally expected, the project team still expects to gain additional insight to injuries and exposures that firefighters incur.

The NIOSH Division of Safety Research (DSR) is conducting this project. DSR has a strong interest in improving surveillance of firefighter injuries and exposures, to provide the information necessary for effectively targeting and implementing prevention efforts, and consequently reducing occupational injuries and exposures to firefighters. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will also contribute to this project, as they are responsible for coordinating the collection of all NEISS-Work data, and for overseeing the collection of all telephone interview data.

NIOSH request approval for an estimated 18 burden hours annually. There is no cost to respondents other than their time.