[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 73 (Friday, April 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20004-20005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8750]
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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 June 15, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments
also may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free
number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (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 private industry, State governments, and local governments. 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 the 2010 survey year, the BLS will test collection
of injury and illness cases that require only days of job transfer or
restriction. In the two
[[Page 20005]]
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 2011. 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:
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.
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 a currently approved collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
OMB Number: 1220-0045.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; Not-for-profit
institutions; Farms; State, Local or Tribal Governments.
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Average time Estimated
Form Total Frequency Total responses per response total burden
respondents (in hours) (in hours)
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BLS 9300..................... 240,000........ Annually....... 240,000........ .44 105,000
Pre-notification Package..... 182,000 out of Annually....... 182,000 out of 1.35 245,266
240,000. 240,000.
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Totals................... 240,000........ ............... 240,000........ .............. 350,266
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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 12th day of April 2010.
Tod Sirois,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2010-8750 Filed 4-15-10; 8:45 am]
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