[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
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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:
Whether the collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the Commission's functions;
Whether the information will have practical utility for
the Commission;
Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected could be enhanced; and
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
