[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 48 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11988-11990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5417]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
[Docket Number: RITA-2008-0002]
Notice of Request for Approval To Collect New Information:
Collection of Safety Culture Data
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and
Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), DOT.
[[Page 11989]]
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) intends to request the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to approve a data collection effort to evaluate a demonstration
research study on the use of close calls data to improve safety in the
rail industry. The study is conducted by the Office of Human Factors in
the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and is designed to identify
safety issues and propose corrective actions based on voluntary reports
of close calls submitted to BTS. Because of the innovative nature of
this program, the FRA is implementing an evaluation program to
determine whether the program is succeeding, how it can be improved,
and what is needed to implement the program throughout the railroad
industry. This collection is necessary in order to carry out the
evaluation program. Specifically, information about changes to the
safety culture of the affected workplaces will be used as one of
several data sources for potentially establishing a causative
relationship between close call reporting and increase in rail safety.
This notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 11, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT), Docket Management Facility (DMF). You may
submit your comments by mail to the Docket Clerk, Docket No. RITA-2008-
0002, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE., West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Comments should identify the docket number; paper comments should be
submitted in duplicate. The DMF is open for examination and copying, at
the above address, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday except
Federal holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of
your written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped
postcard with the following statement, ``Comments on Docket: RITA-2008-
0002.'' The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to
returning it to you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays
in the delivery of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we
recommend that persons consider an alternative method (the Internet,
fax, or professional delivery service) to submit comments to the docket
and ensure their timely receipt at U.S. DOT. You may fax your comments
to the DMF at (202) 493-2251.
If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the
Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Please follow the instructions for
submitting an electronic comment. You can also review comments on-line
at the same Web site http://www.regulations.gov.
Please note that anyone is able to electronically search all
comments received into our docket management system by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment if submitted
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.) You may
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; pages 19477-78) or
you may review the Department's Privacy Policy at http://www.dot.gov/Privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Demetra V. Collia, E-36, Room 314,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202)
366-1610; Fax No. (202) 366-3676; e-mail: [email protected].
Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of data
collected by BTS is protected under the BTS confidentiality statute (49
U.S.C. 111 (k). In accordance with the BTS confidentiality statute,
only statistical and non-identifying data will be made publicly
available through reports. Further, BTS will not release to FRA or any
other public or private entity any information that might reveal the
identity of individuals or organizations mentioned in the collected
survey data.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. The Data Collection
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35; as
amended) and 5 CFR Part 1320 require each Federal agency to obtain OMB
approval to initiate an information collection activity. BTS is seeking
OMB approval for the following BTS information collection activity:
Title: Collection of Safety Culture Data.
OMB Control Number: 2139- NEW.
Type of Review: Approval of data collection.
Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
Number of Respondents: 4,000
Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.
Frequency: The survey will be conducted twice either as a mid-term
or end-of-study evaluation.
Total Annual Burden: 2,000 hours.
II. Background
Collecting data on the nation's transportation system is an
important component of BTS' responsibility to the transportation
community and is authorized in BTS statutory authority (49 U.S.C.
111(c)(1) and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5) (j)). Further, BTS and FRA
share a common interest in promoting rail safety based on better data.
In recognition of the need for new approaches to improving safety, the
FRA has initiated a research program called the Confidential Close Call
Reporting System (C \3\RS). The C \3\RS is designed to identify safety
issues and propose corrective actions based on voluntary reports of
close calls submitted to BTS. A close call represents a situation in
which an ongoing sequence of events was stopped from developing
further, preventing the occurrence of potentially serious safety-
related consequences. This might include the following: (1) Events that
happen frequently, but have low safety consequences; (2) events that
happen infrequently but have the potential for high consequences (e.g.,
a train in dark territory proceeds beyond its authority); (3) events
that are below the FRA reporting threshold (e.g., an event that causes
a minor injury); and (4) events that are reportable to FRA but have the
potential for a far greater accident than the one reported (e.g., a
slow speed collision with minor damage to the equipment and no
injuries.)
BTS is collecting close call reports submitted by railroad
employees while protecting the confidentiality of these data through
its own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA). The
operating assumption behind C \3\RS is that by assuring
confidentiality, employees will report events which, if dealt with,
will decrease the likelihood of accidents. C \3\RS therefore has both a
confidential reporting component, and a problem analysis/solution
component. C \3\RS is expected to affect safety in two ways. First, it
will lead to problem solving concerning specific safety conditions.
Second, it will engender an organizational culture and climate that
supports greater awareness of safety and a greater cooperative
willingness to improve safety. BTS has received a separate OMB approval
for the collection of close call reports (2139-0010) which does not
involve the evaluation of the reporting system.
While C \3\RS has been developed and is being implemented with the
participation of the FRA, railroad labor,
[[Page 11990]]
and railroad management, there are legitimate questions about whether
it is being implemented in the most effective way, and whether it will
have its intended effect. Further, even if C \3\RS is successful, it
will be necessary to know if it is successful enough to implement on a
wide scale. To address these important questions, the FRA is
implementing a formative evaluation to guide program development, a
summative evaluation to assess impact, and a sustainability evaluation
to determine how C \3\RS can continue after the test period is over.
The evaluation is needed to provide the FRA with guidance as to how it
can improve the program, and how it might be scaled up throughout the
railroad industry.
Program evaluation is an inherently data-driven activity. Its basic
tenet is that as change is implemented, data can be collected to track
the course and consequences of the change. Because of the setting in
which C \3\RS is being implemented, that data must come from the
railroad employees (labor and management) who may be affected.
Employees of selected railroad sites (pilot sites) will be asked to
fill out a questionnaire which will be made available to them at their
workplace and collected by BTS staff or BTS contractors. The
questionnaire will request the respondent to provide information such
as: (a) Beliefs about rail safety; (b) issues and personal concerns
related to implementation of safety programs in their work environment;
(c) knowledge and views on voluntary reporting of unsafe events; and
(d) opinions and observations about the operation of C \3\RS at their
work site.
III. Request for Comments
BTS requests comments on any aspects of these information
collections, including: (1) The accuracy of the estimated burden; (2)
ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected
information; and (3) ways to minimize the collection burden without
reducing the quality of the information collected, including additional
use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Issued in Washington, DC on March 5, 2010.
Steven D. Dillingham,
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative
Technology Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-5417 Filed 3-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-HY-P