NIOSH White Paper January 25, 2013

This is a working document prepared by NIOSH. White Paper documents are not final NIOSH positions unless specifically marked 

as such. This document represents preliminary position taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH. 

NOTICE: This report has been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and has 

been cleared for distribution.

Ten-Year Program Review: NIOSH Progress on Issues and Actions Items Related to 

the Quality of Service Review, Issue 4, Action 1

Issue 4: Issues related to perceived burden on claimants and petitioners

Action 1: DCAS will consider its current communications strategies as they might present perceived 

burdens to claimants and petitioners, particularly in light of the real burden felt by those individuals 

through their interactions with the DOL.

Status: Complete

Summary: The Division of Compensation Analysis and Support (DCAS) has reviewed current 

communication strategies and changes were made to the letter and cover page of the question for the 

telephone interview and the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petition process letters. 

Telephone Interview Letter and Cover Page to Questions

The letters and cover sheet to the questions were updated to include more detailed information on 

what to expect during the call. It is also important to note that the letter and cover page to the 

questions no longer emphasize this as an interview. Both state that we would like to talk to the energy 

employee about their work history and ask them some questions. One of the “perceived” burdens by 

claimants may be the word “interview” and the term may cause anxiety for some claimants. An 

“interview” has one meaning while “talking” with someone about their work history may have another

meaning or perception. These changes were implemented in February 2012. A sample of the new text 

added to the letter and cover page to the questions is below:

“These questions will provide you with the chance to let us know any additional 

information about your work history that might not be found in the exposure 

monitoring information we receive from the Department of Energy (DOE) or Atomic 

Weapons Employer (AWE). While we encourage all claimants to talk to us about their 

work history, your participation is voluntary.

Some things to keep in mind with these questions:
NIOSH White Paper January 25, 2013

This is a working document prepared by NIOSH. White Paper documents are not final NIOSH positions unless specifically marked 

as such. This document represents preliminary position taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH. 

NOTICE: This report has been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and has 

been cleared for distribution.

• You are not expected to answer or know all of the information in the questions. 

These questions cover a wide range of information. Also, we do not want or expect 

you to search for any of this information. 

• We are giving you a copy of these questions so that you know what to expect during 

the call. While looking over the questions, you can jot down any thoughts you may 

have. You do not need to fill out the questions and return them to us. We will take 

the information from you over the phone. 

• We will look over the information you give us during the phone call when we are 

ready to start the dose reconstruction for your claim. Please keep in mind that the 

technical documents we use for doing your dose reconstruction may already include 

some or all of the information you might give us during the call. If you have given us 

additional information that is not covered in our technical documents, it will be used 

to complete your dose reconstruction.”

Special Exposure Cohort Petitioning Process Letters

All letters used in the SEC petitioning process have been reviewed to see if any unintentional perceived 

burden existed. Addition information to better explain expectations and the various steps of the SEC 

petitioning process have been incorporated into the letter. DCAS started revising and implementing 

their use in July 2011. A sample from one of the letters is below:

“NIOSH released its evaluation report for your Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petition. I have 

enclosed the report in this letter. We also sent the report to the Advisory Board on Radiation 

and Worker Health (the Advisory Board). The Advisory Board makes recommendations whether 

the class of workers should become members of SEC. In the report, we proposed the following 

worker class be added to the SEC:

“[NIOSH recommended class definition or if none, note NIOSH is not recommending a class].”

The above proposed worker class is based on the following:

• [Cite reason from evaluation report summary page].

• [Cite reason from evaluation report summary page].
NIOSH White Paper January 25, 2013

This is a working document prepared by NIOSH. White Paper documents are not final NIOSH positions unless specifically marked 

as such. This document represents preliminary position taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH. 

NOTICE: This report has been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and has 

been cleared for distribution.

• [Cite reason from evaluation report summary page].

[Insert a brief paragraph noting any special changes to the class definition and why.]

Now that we submitted the report to the Advisory Board, the Board will:

1. Discuss your petition and our report on [Month Date, Year], during its meeting.

2. Make a recommendation whether to add the class of employees from your petition to 

the SEC.

3. After the Advisory Board makes a recommendation, it will send the recommendation to 

the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

The Secretary will then review the NIOSH evaluation report and the Advisory Board’s 

recommendation to make a final decision on whether to add the class of employees in your 

petition to the SEC. If the Secretary’s decision is to add a class, the Secretary will report this 

decision to Congress. Congress has 30 days to take action on the Secretary’s decision. If no 

action is taken by the end of the 30 days, the Secretary’s decision becomes final.

The [Month Date, Year], Advisory Board meeting is a teleconference meeting. It will begin at 

[Time] ([Specify Time Zone]—information will be slightly different for a face-to-face meeting). 

This meeting is open to the public. You will have an opportunity comment about this report 

during the meeting. You can also address the Advisory Board in writing, if you wish. You do not 

have to participate and may choose to only listen to the meeting. The final agenda for this 

meeting is not available at this time. When it is available to us, we will send the agenda for this 

meeting with the call-in number and pass code, should you choose to listen or participate.

If you have any questions about the report or how to address the Advisory Board regarding your 

petition, please feel free to contact the NIOSH SEC petition counselor, Josh Kinman. During this 

process, Mr. Kinman can be contacted directly at 513-533-6831 or toll-free at 1-877-222-7570. 

You can also contact Mr. Kinman by email at dcas@cdc.gov. Additional information about DCAS 

and the SEC process can be found on the DCAS Web site (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas).”