[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 52 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12834-12835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5004]


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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 May 18, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, 202-691-7628. (This 
is not a toll free number.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7628. (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 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 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 survey year 2008, the BLS will collect data from 
State and Local government agencies in all States to support both State 
and national estimates. Until now, the Survey of Occupational Injuries 
and Illnesses has been restricted to producing national estimates for 
the private sector only. Consequently, there have been no national 
estimates of workplace injuries and illnesses sustained by State and 
local government workers, including those in such relatively high 
hazard and high profile occupations as police, firefighters, 
paramedics, and other public health workers. The BLS regards the 
collection of these data as a significant expansion in its overall 
coverage of the American workplace. The BLS will send a letter 
explaining that the survey is voluntary for State and local government 
agencies in States that do not require this collection of data. The 
number of extra sample units needed for State and local government data 
is approximately 7,000.
    Beginning with the 2008 survey year, the BLS will test collection 
of injury and illness cases that require only days of job transfer or 
restriction. In the two decades prior to the OSHA recordkeeping changes 
in 2002, incidence rates for cases with days away from work decreased 
significantly, while incidence rates for cases with only restricted 
work activity increased significantly. Since the BLS presently collects 
case and demographic data only for cases with days away from work, data 
are not obtained about a growing class of injury and illness cases. If 
the test(s) prove successful, the BLS will explore implementing this 
practice for additional States beginning with survey year 2009. The BLS 
regards the collection of these cases with only job transfer or 
restriction as significant in its coverage of the American workforce.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected.
    <bullet> 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 currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[[Page 12835]]

    Title: Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
    OMB Number: 1220-0045.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Farms; State, local or tribal government.

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                                                                                                      Estimated
                                                                                       Average time     total
             Form               Total respondents      Frequency      Total responses  per response     burden
                                                                                          (hours)      (hours)
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BLS 9300......................  230,000..........  Annually........  230,000.........           .4        91,666
Pre-notification Package......  175,000 out of     Annually........  175,000 out of            1.35      235,833
                                 230,000.                             230,000.
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals....................  230,000..........  ................  230,000.........  ............      327,499
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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 14th day of March 2007.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. E7-5004 Filed 3-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P