[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1325-1326]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-519]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

Proposed Collection; Comment Request--Product-Related Injuries

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission requests comments 
on a proposed extension of approval of a collection of information from 
persons who have been involved in or have witnessed incidents 
associated with consumer products. The Commission will consider all 
comments received in response to this notice before requesting a 
reinstatement of approval of this collection of information from the 
Office of Management and Budget.

DATES: Written comments must be received by the Office of the Secretary 
not later than March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be captioned ``Product-Related 
Injuries'' and mailed to the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207, or delivered to that office, 
room 502, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the proposed 
extension of approval of the collection of information, or to obtain a 
copy of any of the interview guides used for this collection of 
information, call or write Carl Blechschmidt, Acting Director, Office 
of Planning and Evaluation, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 
Washington, D.C. 20207; telephone (301) 504-0416, extension 2243.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Section 5(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2054(a)) 
requires the Commission to collect information related to the cause and 
prevention of death, injury, and illness associated with consumer 
products. That legislation also requires the Commission to conduct 
continuing studies and investigations of deaths, injuries, diseases, 
and economic losses resulting from incidents involving consumer 
products.
    The Commission uses this information to support development and 
improvement of voluntary standards, rulemaking proceedings, information 
and education campaigns, and administrative and judicial proceedings. 
These safety efforts are vitally important to remove unsafe products 
from channels of distribution and consumers' homes and to help make 
consumer products safer.
    Persons who have sustained injuries or who have witnessed incidents 
associated with consumer products are an important source of safety 
information. From consumer complaints, newspaper accounts, death 
certificates, hospital emergency room reports, and other sources, the 
Commission selects a limited number of incidents for investigation. 
These investigations may involve face-to-face or telephone interviews 
with accident victims or witnesses. The Commission also receives 
information about product-related injuries from persons who provide 
written information by using forms displayed on the Commission's 
internet web site or printed in the Product Safety Review and other 
Commission publications.
    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the collection 
of information concerning product-related injuries under control number 
3041-0029. OMB's most recent extension of approval will expire on May 
31, 1997. The Commission now proposes to request an extension of 
approval with changes of this collection of information. The changes 
consist of the addition of 140 burden hours to cover responses to 
telephone questionnaires used by hot-line operators to obtain 
information about deaths, injuries, or illnesses associated with 
selected products, and written information submitted on forms listed on 
the Commission's internet web site and printed in Commission 
publications.

B. Estimated Burden

    Each year, the Commission staff obtains information about incidents 
involving consumer products from approximately 4,160 persons. The staff 
conducts face-to-face interviews at incident sites with approximately 
700 persons each year. On average, an on-site interview takes 
approximately five hours. The staff will also conduct approximately 
2,200 in-depth investigations by telephone. Each in-depth telephone 
investigation requires approximately 20 minutes. Additionally, the 
Commission's hotline staff interviews approximately 160 persons each 
year about incidents involving selected consumer products. These 
interviews take an average of 1.5 minutes each. Each year, the 
Commission also receives information from about 1,000 persons who 
complete forms requesting information about product-related incidents 
or injuries. These forms appear on the Commission's internet web site 
and are printed in the Product Safety Review and other Commission 
publications. The staff estimates that completion of the form takes 
about 12 minutes.
    The Commission staff estimates that this collection of information 
imposes a total annual hourly burden of 4,452 hours on all respondents: 
3,500 hours for face-to-face interviews; 748 hours for in-depth 
telephone interviews; 200 hours for completion of written forms; and 
four hours for responses to hot-line telephone questionnaires.
    The Commission staff values the time of respondents to this 
collection of information at $12 an hour. This is the average hourly 
wage for all private industry workers reported by the U.S. Bureau of 
the Census in the 1996 edition of the Statistical Abstract of the 
United States. At this valuation, the estimated annual cost to the 
public is about $53,500.
    The Commission staff estimates that this collection of information 
will require approximately 330 weeks of professional staff time each 
year. That estimate includes the time required to prepare the 
questionnaires, interviewer guidelines, and other instruments and 
instructions used to collect the information; to conduct the face-to-
face and telephone interviews; and to record, review, and evaluate the 
responses

[[Page 1326]]

obtained from the interviews and completed written forms. Each week of 
professional staff time costs the Commission approximately $1,400. 
Thus, the annual cost to the Federal government of this collection of 
information is estimated to be about $462,000.

C. Request for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed extension of approval of the collection of 
information concerning product-related injuries. The Commission 
specifically solicits information about the hourly burden and monetary 
costs imposed by this collection of information. The Commission also 
seeks information relevant to the following topics:
    <bullet> Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the Commission's functions;
    <bullet> Whether the information will have practical utility for 
the Commission;
    <bullet> Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected could be enhanced; and
    <bullet> Whether the burden imposed by the collection of 
information could be minimized by use of automated, electronic or other 
technological collection techniques, or other form of information 
technology.

    Dated: January 6, 1997.
Sadye E. Dunn,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 97-519 Filed 1-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P