Deepwater Horizon Supporting stmt A

Deepwater Horizon Response Worker

Rostering Survey and Worker Health Survey

Supporting Statement

For an Emergency Clearance Request

(7/15/2010)

Renée Funk, DVM, MPH&TM, DACVPM
LCDR, US PHS

Project Officer

[email protected]

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Emergency Preparedness and Response Office

1600 Clifton Rd, MS E-20

404-498-2499(tel)

Table of Contents

A. Justification

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collection

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

5. Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside the Agency

9. Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

13. Estimates of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers/Capital Costs

14. Annualized Cost to the Government

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Appendices

Appendix A Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 669)

Appendix B Roster Survey

Appendix C Disclosure form for Roster Survey

Appendix D Worker Health Survey

A. Justification

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

On April 21, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig (owned by BP) caught fire and sank leading to oil spilling from the sea floor. Thousands of workers are responding to the clean-up activities. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been asked to support the Unified Command to establish a systematic rostering of workers participating in Gulf spill response clean-up efforts, including volunteers, by obtaining this information at the time of training, or for those already trained, by working with safety and on-site supervisory officials.  Please see attached disclosure sheet and form.  In previous events, NIOSH has tried to go back and recreate a roster after the fact, which is very difficult and time consuming.  NIOSH is trying to do this prospectively with this group of responders.

NIOSH also intends to conduct a telephone health survey with the same group of workers, details of which are also included in this package.

NIOSH requests OMB approval to collect information that will assist NIOSH in first establishing a roster for workers responding to the oil spill, and then administering a telephone health survey to these workers. Emergency clearance is requested because we are intending to roster people as they are going through safety training before they start work.  Training has already started, and every day that we delay we are missing more people that we will have to try to track down another way. The health status of the workers needs to be determined immediately, using the telephone health survey, so that appropriate occupational safety and health interventions can be implemented.

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collection

The primary objectives are to:

1) Roster workers, including volunteers, participating in clean-up efforts by obtaining this information at the time of training, or for those already trained, by working with safety and on-site supervisory officials. This information was previously indicated in Emergency ICR# 0920-0851.

2) Use information from this survey and the telephone health survey to analyze potential health effects associated with the oil spill clean-up effort

NIOSH will provide a final written report through CDC to BP, its contractors, the workers, and federal and state government agencies. This report will not contain individual information and will be available to the public.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

All data for this study will be collected via a paper-and-pencil questionnaire or a web-based survey (for the worker roster), and followed by the telephone health survey.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

This is a new program. Information has not been previously collected for this purpose.

5. Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

There will be no impact on small business.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequent Collection

This is a one-time data collection.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

There are no special circumstances.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice/Outside Consultation

Due to the emergency nature of the program announce, OMB has waived the FRN requirements for this collection.

9. Explanation of any Payment/Gift to Respondents

Not applicable.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

Respondents are informed that their information will be kept private to the extent allowed by law. All information will be maintained in a secure manner.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

No sensitive information will be collected.

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours (Total Hours & Wages)

An estimated 40,000 workers are expected to be rostered along the Gulf Coast region. All workers in the roster will receive the follow-up telephone health survey. The initial paper or web-based survey takes 5 minutes to complete, and the subsequent telephone survey takes 25 minutes to complete.

The total estimated burden hours are 20,000.

12A. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Type of Respondent	Form Name	No. of Respondents	No. Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
Deepwater Horizon responders - web	Roster Survey	1,000	1	5/60	83
Deepwater Horizon responders - paper	Roster Survey	39,000	1	5/60	3250
Deepwater Horizon responders - telephone	Worker Health Survey	40,000	1	25/60	16667
		Total			20,000

12B. Cost estimates for a single respondent that has to complete the preliminary

application

Form Name	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate	Total Respondent Costs
Roster Survey and Worker Health Survey	20,000	$45.00	$900,000
	Total		$900,000

13. Estimates of other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers/Capital Costs

There are no additional recordkeeping/capital costs.

14. Annualized Cost to Federal Government

Epidemiologists will be creating the surveys, collecting and analyzing the data, and reporting the results.

Type of Federal employee support	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate	Total Federal Costs
Epidemiologist	800	$39.48	$31,548
Field teams	3840	$39.48	$151,603
		Total	$183,151

The average hourly wage rate for an epidemiologist is estimated at the GS-13, step 6

level.

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

This is a new data collection.

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

A draft analysis plan will be peer reviewed during the collection of the data. The peer review will consist of reviewers that are experts in their field related to this analysis of surveillance and exposure assessment, independent of this project, and not have a stake in the outcome. The review will include addressing the robustness of the analysis plan; addressing non-responsiveness; assessing total exposure; appropriateness of assumptions and limitations; and the if the conclusions derive from the analysis. Data collection will begin as soon as clearance is received.

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

Not applicable.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the certification.

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