[Federal Register: September 5, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 50983-50985]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05se07-71]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Proposed Information Collection Request for National Agricultural
Workers Survey; Comment Request
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration.
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 preclearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
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
[[Page 50984]]
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.
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed three-year continuation of the
National Agricultural Workers Survey with revisions.
A copy of the proposed information collection request can be
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section
of this notice or by accessing: http://www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/1205-0453.cfm
.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addressee's section below on or before November 5, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Employment and Training
Administration, Office of Policy Development and Research, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N5641, Washington, DC 20210, Attention:
Mr. Daniel Carroll. Telephone number: 202-693-2795 (this is not a toll-
free number). Fax: 202-693-2766. E-mail: carroll.daniel.j@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor has been continually surveying hired farm
workers since 1988 via the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS).
The survey's primary focus is to describe the employment, demographic,
and health characteristics of hired crop farm workers. It is the only
national-level data source for this information.
The NAWS provides an understanding of the manpower resources
available to U.S. agriculture, and both public and private service
programs use the data for planning, implementing, and evaluating farm
worker programs.
The NAWS samples hired crop farm workers in three cycles each year
to capture the seasonality of agricultural employment. Workers are
randomly sampled at their work sites. During the initial contact,
arrangements are made to interview the respondent at home or at another
location of convenience to the respondent. Depending on the information
needs and resources of the various federal agencies that use NAWS data,
between 1,500 and 4,000 workers are interviewed each year.
The primary NAWS questionnaire routinely provides a standard set of
information on the employment, demographic, and health characteristics
of hired crop workers. When new information is required, Federal
agencies add supplemental collection instruments to the NAWS.
Beginning with the October 2007 interview cycle, the Employment and
Training Administration, in partnership with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, proposes to collect additional information on the occupational
health of hired crop workers via the NAWS. The new information would
come from administering new questions on occupational mental health.
The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments regarding: (1)
The currently approved versions of the primary questionnaire and the
agricultural occupational injury supplement; and (2) the addition of
the occupational mental health questions. The primary questionnaire,
injury supplement, and proposed occupational mental health questions
are discussed below.
Primary NAWS Questionnaire
The questionnaire is administered to hired crop agricultural
workers 14 years old and older. It contains a household grid, where the
education level and migration history of the respondent and each member
of the respondent's household are recorded, and an employment grid,
where a full year of respondent's employment is detailed. Information
on income, assets, legal status, and use of contribution- and needs-
based programs is also elicited.
In the employment grid, interviewers record the task and crop for
agricultural jobs, type and amount of non-agricultural employment,
periods of unemployment, and time spent outside the United States. For
the respondent's current agricultural job, information on how the job
was obtained, wages and payment method (piece or hourly), employment
type (direct hire or labor-contracted) and duration (year-round or
seasonal), benefits, availability of water and sanitation, pesticide
training, transportation, and housing arrangements is recorded.
Demographic and health information collected via the primary
questionnaire includes age, gender, place of birth, marital status,
languages spoken, English language ability, participation in education
and employment training programs, health history (lifetime),
musculoskeletal problems (last 12 months), and quality of and access to
health care.
The Agricultural Occupational Injury Supplement
This CDC/NIOSH-sponsored supplement is administered to all NAWS
respondents who had a qualifying agricultural occupational injury in
the United States in the 12-month period before the date of interview.
For each qualifying injury, the respondent is asked how, when and where
the injury occurred, the body part(s) injured, where medical treatment
was received, how the treatment was paid for, and the number of days
the respondent couldn't work or worked at a reduced activity level.
Proposed Occupational Mental Health Supplement
CDC/NIOSH is proposing to add, for one year only, an occupational
mental health supplement. The supplement will include four questions
each concerning decisions latitude and work limitations, two questions
each concerning job demands and job insecurity, and one question each
concerning perceived general health and family concerns. In addition,
the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Short
Form 10 (SF-10), which contains 10 items, would be administered.
II. Review Focus
The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments
which:
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; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriated
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
Type of Review: Revision of Approved Collection.
Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
Title: National Agricultural Workers Survey.
[[Page 50985]]
OMB Number: 1205-0453.
Affected Public: Individuals, Farms.
Total Respondents: 5,344.
Frequency: Annual.
Total Responses: 5,344.
Average Time per Response: 48.1 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,288 (see Table 1, below).
Table 1.--Estimated Burden Hours Associated With the FY 2008 NAWS
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Respondents Average time per
Who will be interviewed? Survey instrument per year respondent Total hours
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Farm Workers...................... Primary 4,000 57 minutes........... 3,800
Questionnaire,
including
occupational mental
health questions.
Farm Workers with a qualifying Occupational Injury 160* 15 minutes........... 40
injury. Supplement.
Employers......................... Point of Contact Only 1,344 20 minutes........... 448
Total......................... ..................... 5,344 ..................... 4,288
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*Not included in total respondents; they are a subset of the Primary Questionnaire respondents.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $0.
Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and
Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also
become a matter of public record.
Dated: August 29, 2007.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-17498 Filed 9-4-07; 8:45 am]
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