Request for Information: Collection and Use of Nonfatal Workplace Violence Information from the National Crime Victimization Survey, 54473-54476 [2013-21441]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 / Notices
control-patients, we estimate that 78 in
each group will agree and be eligible to
participate in the study and will
proceed to the full interview. We
anticipate the screening questions to
take about 5 minutes and the telephone
interview 30 minutes per respondent in
both the adult and pediatric groups.
54473
There are no costs to respondents.
The total response burden for the study
is estimated as follows:
ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS
Number of
responses per
respondent
Form name
Case subjects >17 years of age .......
Screening Process ...........................
Telephone interview .........................
Screening Process ...........................
Telephone interview .........................
Screening Process ...........................
Telephone interview .........................
Screening Process ...........................
Telephone interview .........................
129
71
142
71
141
78
194
78
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5/60
30/60
5/60
30/60
5/60
30/60
5/60
30/60
11
36
12
36
12
39
16
39
...........................................................
........................
........................
........................
201
Control Subjects >17 years of age ...
Case Subject ≤1–5 years of age ......
Control Subjects ≤1–5 years of age
Total ...........................................
Leroy Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office,
Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the
Associate Director for Science, Office of the
Director, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2013–21468 Filed 9–3–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163–18–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Justice Programs
[CDC–2013–0020; NIOSH–269]
Request for Information: Collection
and Use of Nonfatal Workplace
Violence Information from the National
Crime Victimization Survey
The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) and the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Office of Justice
Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
AGENCY:
The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) and the Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS) of the Office of
Justice Programs, Department of Justice
(DOJ), are collaborating to request
public comments to inform BJS’s
approach in collecting and reporting
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:51 Sep 03, 2013
Jkt 229001
Number of
respondents
Average
burden per
response
(in hours)
Type of respondents
(adult and pediatric)
data related to nonfatal workplace
violence in the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS). NIOSH
and BJS request input on these issues.
The instructions for submitting
comments can be found at
www.regulations.gov. Written
comments submitted to the Docket will
be used to inform BJS with the planning
and collection of workplace violence
data in the NCVS. Dates: Public
Comment Period: Comments must be
received by November 27, 2013 to be
considered by BJS and NIOSH.
Addresses: Written comments: You may
submit comments by any of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: NIOSH Docket Office, Robert
A. Taft Laboratories, MS–C34, 4676
Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH
45226.
• Instructions: All submissions
received must include the agency name
and docket number [CDC–2013–0020;
NIOSH–269]. All relevant comments,
including any personal information
provided, will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov.
All information received in response
to this notice will be available for public
examination and copying at the NIOSH
Docket Office, 4676 Columbia Parkway,
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
I. Background
The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) is the federal agency
responsible for conducting research to
prevent workplace injuries and
illnesses. Workplace violence is a
common threat to worker safety and
health, and NIOSH has a long history of
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Total burden
(in hours)
conducting research on the prevalence,
risk factors for, and prevention of workrelated violence.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office
of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice
Statistics collects data on rape, sexual
assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and
simple assault against persons age 12 or
older through the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS). The
NCVS gathers data from a continuous,
nationally representative sample of
approximately 86,000 households
comprising nearly 156,000 persons age
12 or older in the United States,
reported and not reported to the police.
The NCVS provides information about
victims (e.g. age, gender, race, Hispanic
origin, marital status, income, and
educational level), offenders (e.g.
gender, race, approximate age, and
victim/offender relationship), and the
nature of the crime (time and place of
occurrence, use of weapons, nature of
injury, and economic consequences).
NCVS respondents who report that
they were a victim of a violent crime
(rape, sexual assault, robbery,
aggravated assault, or simple assault)
while working or on duty are included
in NCVS special reports on workplace
violence. BJS published special reports
on workplace violence in 1994, 1998
(covering 1992–96), 2001 (covering
1993–99), 2011 (covering 1993–2009)
and 2013 (focused on government
workers, 1994–2011). These reports are
available on the BJS Web site as part of
their violence in the workplace series at
https://www.bjs.gov/
index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=56
All of the workplace violence special
reports used the same classification
system to determine work-relatedness of
the incidents. To qualify as workplace
violence the incident must have:
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
04SEN1
54474
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 / Notices
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
• Involved someone 16 years of age or
older,
• Had the activity variable coded as
‘‘working’’,
• Involved a violent crime,
• Involved a person who had a job or
worked at a business the week
preceding the survey or during the 6
months preceding the survey, and
• The event must have occurred
within the United States.
Additionally, workplace violence to
teachers commuting to and from work
were included to make the data
comparable to estimates presented in
the Department of Education/BJS report,
‘‘Indicators of School Crime and
Safety.’’ The NCVS is a nationally
representative household survey so it
excludes persons who are homeless,
persons living in military barracks or
stationed outside of the U.S., and those
persons living in institutionalized group
quarters, such as prisons, mental health
facilities, and certain hospitals and
assisted-living facilities. In 2002, NIOSH
and BJS conducted The Workplace Risk
Supplement to the NCVS, which was
administered to employed respondents
who were 16 years or older in all
households selected for the NCVS
during the 6-month reference period
from January through June 2002. This
supplement used the same classification
system described for the special reports.
II. Purpose of Request for Comments
NIOSH and BJS are collaborating to
improve and enhance the collection of
nonfatal workplace violence data
through the NCVS. This is part of a
larger BJS effort to re-design and
increase the utility of nonfatal violence
data collected through the NCVS.
NIOSH and BJS are seeking input on:
(1) Methods to identify work-related
violence using the existing variable
structure within the NCVS, and (2) other
suggested enhancements to improve the
ability of the NCVS to describe the
prevalence, patterns, and trends in
workplace violence. Responses to this
request for information will be
considered by BJS in: (1) The re-design
of the NCVS, (2) an on-line NVCS
reporting tool, and (3) future BJS
workplace violence reports. NIOSH and
BJS also anticipate utilizing this
information in a jointly issued technical
report on methodological issues with
identifying and reporting on nonfatal
workplace violence through the NCVS.
III. Identifying Workplace Violence in
the NCVS
NIOSH defines workplace violence as
‘‘violent acts, including physical
assaults and threats of assault, directed
toward persons at work or on duty.’’
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:51 Sep 03, 2013
Jkt 229001
The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) defines
workplace violence as any act or threat
of physical violence, harassment,
intimidation, or other threatening
disruptive behavior that occurs at the
work site. These are broad definitions
and most data collection systems will
not capture all incidents of workplace
violence. For example, data on
workplace violence collected through
the NIOSH/Consumer Product Safety
Commission, National Electronic Injury
Surveillance System- Work Supplement
(NEISS-Work), which is collected from
a nationally representative sample of
hospital emergency departments, is
more likely to capture workplace
violence that results in physical injuries
than other forms that do not result in
injury such as threats, harassment and
intimidation, https://www2a.cdc.gov/
risqs/wrtechinfo.htm.
Additionally, the NIOSH and OSHA
definitions are restricted to incidents
that occur at work and do not
encompass violence that may have a
work-association but not have occurred
at work, such as violence associated
with commuting to and from a
workplace. BJS and NIOSH plan to
address these issues and the
implications for assessing trends in
workplace violence using the NCVS and
other data sources in the anticipated
jointly-issued technical report on
workplace violence methodological
issues in the NCVS.
Determining work-relatedness of the
violent incidents recorded by the NCVS
is not straightforward. Many factors
influence the decision to include the
case as a workplace violence incident.
The work-related variables that are
currently collected in the NCVS appear
below. Any combination of these
variables is possible. Immediately below
the variable list are alternatives for
variable combinations that are currently
being used or considered in determining
work-relatedness in the NCVS. There
are advantages and disadvantages to
different methods, including the ability
to assess trends using historical data
and being more inclusive or exclusive in
identifying work associations.
Input is requested regarding the best
combination of variables to determine
work-relatedness of the violent incident.
In particular, what would be your first
and second choices for a combination of
variables to identify work-related
violence and why?
NCVS crime incident report
instrument: https://www.bjs.gov/index.
cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245#
Questionnaires
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
IV. Currently Collected Variables in the
NCVS That May Be Considered to
Establish Work-relatedness
Household-level Variables
1. Does anyone in this household
operate a business from this address?
2. Is there a sign on the premises or
some other indication to the general
public that a business is operated from
this address?
Person-level Variables
3. Did you have a job or work at a
business last week?
4. Did you have a job or work at a
business during the last 6 months?
5. Did that (job/work) last 2
consecutive weeks or more?
6. Which of the following best
describes your job?
Medical Profession
• Physician
• Nurse
• Technician
• Other
Mental Health Services Field
• Professional (Social worker/
Psychiatrist)
• Custodial care
• Other
Teaching Profession
• Preschool
• Elementary
• Junior high or middle school
• High school
• College or university
Technical or Industrial School
• Special education facility
• Other
Law Enforcement Security Field
• Law enforcement officer
• Correctional officer
• Security guard
• Other
Retail Sales
• Convenience or liquor store clerk
• Gas station attendant
• Bartender
• Other
Transportation Field
• Bus driver
• Taxi cab driver
• Other
Something Else
7. Is your job with a private company,
federal government, state, county, or
local government, or yourself?
8. While working at your job, do you
work mostly in city, suburb, or rural
area or combination of these?
9. Are you employed by a college or
university?
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
04SEN1
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 / Notices
Incident-Level Variables
10. Was the victim injured? How
(Type of injury)?
11. What were you doing when this
incident (happened/started)?
• Working or on duty
• On the way to or from work
• On the way to or from school
• On the way to or from other place
• Shopping, errands
• Attending school
• Leisure activity away from home
• Sleeping
• Other activities at home
• Other
12. Were you employed at the time of
the incident?
13. What was the type of work
performed at the time of the incident?
14. Is this business incorporated?
15. What was the business type?
16. What was the type of industry at
the time of the incident?
17. Collapsed industry code.
18. Collapsed occupation code.
19. While working at this job, did you
work mostly in a city, suburb, rural area,
or combination of any of these?
20. Did this incident happen at your
work site?
21. Did you usually work days or
nights?
22. Is this your current job?
23. Did you lose time from work
because of the injuries you suffered in
this incident?
24. How many days did you lose
because of injuries?
25. Did you lose any pay that was not
covered by unemployment insurance,
sick leave or some other source?
26. About how much pay did you
lose?
27. Did you lose any (other) time from
work because of this incident for such
things as cooperating with a police
investigation, testifying in court, or
repairing or replacing damaged or stolen
property?
28. How much time did you lose
altogether because of cooperating with a
police investigation, testifying in court,
or repairing or replacing damaged or
stolen property?
29. During these days, did you lose
any pay that was not covered by
unemployment insurance, paid leave, or
some other source?
30. About how much pay did you
lose?
31. Were there any (other) household
members 16 years or older who lost time
from work because of this incident?
32. How much time did they lose
altogether?
Alternatives for determining workrelatedness
Variable alternatives currently used or
under consideration and some
advantages and disadvantages are:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:51 Sep 03, 2013
Jkt 229001
Alternative I: Current Coding Scheme
Used by the BJS:
• Age 16 (victims age 16 or older),
• Had a job or worked at a business
last week or during the last 6 months,
• Excludes outside of U.S.
• Activity at time of incident—
working,
• Violent crime
Advantages—can be used to generate
rates of workplace violence by
occupation and other aspects, facilitates
trend analyses with earlier data,
relatively consistent with NIOSH and
OSHA definitions of workplace violence
(with exception of non-robbery threats
of violence, harassment and
intimidation which are not included in
the NCVS definition of a violent crime
and the inclusion of commuting injuries
for teachers)
Disadvantages—calculations of rates
of workplace violence by occupation
may not be as accurate because job at
the time of incident may be different
from current job. The percentage of
workplace violence that occurred in
which the job at the time of the incident
was different from the job at the time of
the NCVS interview increased from 44%
in 2007 to about 56% in 2011.
Alternative II
• Age 16 or older,
• Had a job or worked at a business
last week or during the last 6 months,
• Job at time of incident was the same
as job mentioned at beginning of NCVS
interview,
• Excludes outside of U.S.,
• Activity at time of incidentworking,
• Violent crime.
Advantages—relatively consistent
with NIOSH and OSHA definitions of
workplace violence, allows for a more
accurate calculation of rates of
workplace violence by occupation than
what is done currently (everyone has
the same job for the numerator and
denominator).
Disadvantages—persons that
experienced workplace violence at a
time where their job does not match
their job at the NCVS interview are
excluded. As mentioned above, the
percentage of workplace violence in
which the job at the time of the incident
was different from the job at the time of
the NCVS interview has increased in
recent years from 44% in 2007 to about
56% in 2011. These cases would be
excluded from estimates of workplace
violence by using Alternative II.
Alternative III
• Age 16 or older,
• Excludes outside of U.S.,
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54475
• Activity at time of incidentworking,
• Violent crime
Advantages—relatively consistent
with NIOSH and OSHA definitions.
Disadvantages—calculations of rates
of workplace violence by occupation
may not be as accurate because job at
the time of incident may be different
from current job.
Alternative IV
• Age 16 or older,
• Had a job or worked at a business
last week or during the last 6 months,
• Excludes outside of U.S.,
• Activity at time of incident-working
or on the way to/from work,
• Violent crime
Advantages—includes violence
committed on the way to and from work
as well as while working.
Disadvantages—calculations of rates
of workplace violence by occupation
may not be as accurate because job at
the time of incident may be different
from current job. Inconsistent with
NIOSH and OSHA definitions of
workplace violence which exclude
violence during the commute to or from
work.
Alternative V
• Age 16 or older,
• Excludes outside of U.S.,
• Activity at time of incidentworking,
• Employed at the time of the
incident,
• Violent crime.
Advantages—know for certain the
victim was employed at the time of the
incident, relatively consistent with
NIOSH and OSHA definitions.
Disadvantages—calculations of rates
of workplace violence by occupation
may not be as accurate because job at
the time of incident may be different
from current job.
Alternative VI
• Age 16 or older,
• Excludes outside of U.S.,
• incident happened at your worksite,
• violent crime.
Advantages—know for certain where
the crime took place.
Disadvantages—excludes workplace
violence that occurs while a person is
on duty away from the worksite and
thus inconsistent with NIOSH and
OSHA definitions of workplace
violence.
V. The second item for which we are
requesting input is any other suggested
enhancements to improve the ability of
the NCVS to report on workplace
violence. Two enhancements that are
currently being explored by BJS and
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
04SEN1
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
54476
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 / Notices
NIOSH are: (1) The ability to report
NCVS data by a workplace violence
typology used by NIOSH and public
health researchers (Type I—Criminal
Intent, Type II—Customer/client, Type
III—Worker-on-Worker, and Type IV
Intimate Partner Violence [detail
available at https://www.publichealth.uiowa.edu/iprc/resources/
workplace-violence-report.pdf]), and (2)
revisions to the categories of
occupations that are used in reports.
One of the factors that will need to be
considered with respect to occupation
categories is the NCVS sample size and
the ability to reliably report on specific
occupations.
In a recent review of the NCVS data
collection instrument, there were a
number of potential limitations that
were identified. These include, but are
not limited to:
1. The victim-offender relationship
variable is first conditioned on whether
the victim knows the perpetrator or not.
This complicates the use of such
relationships as ‘‘customer/client or
patient.’’ A worker who was assaulted
by a customer who was also a stranger
would be skipped out of the victimoffender relationship variable. Only
customers that were considered casual
acquaintances or well known to the
victim would be filtered into the
specific relationship coding. So it is
possible that many offenders who were
customers or clients end up in the
stranger coding.
2. Currently, NCVS collects limited
occupation types (see section IV, #6).
These categories are primarily
considered high-risk occupations for
certain victimization types. The
categories do not reflect changes in the
workforce since 1990. Input is requested
regarding potential enhancements to the
collection and reporting of nonfatal
workplace violence in the NCVS. In
particular, do you think it would be
useful for BJS to include the public
health typology of workplace violence
in future workplace violence reports
and in the on-line NCVS reporting tool?
Do you have suggestions for reporting
on specific occupation or occupation
groups and/or methods to address
limitations regarding the NCVS sample
size? Do you have suggestions for
addressing the potential limitations
identified in the survey, such as issues
with the relationship variable?
Dr.
Daniel Hartley, 1095 Willowdale Road,
Morgantown, West Virginia 26505,
telephone (304) 285–5812. Email:
DHartley@cdc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:51 Sep 03, 2013
Jkt 229001
Dated: August 20, 2013.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Dated: August 26, 2013.
William Sabol,
Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2013–21441 Filed 9–3–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163–19–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Availability of Draft National
Toxicology Program Technical
Reports; Request for Comments;
Notice of Meeting
The National Toxicology
Program (NTP) announces the
availability of four draft NTP Technical
Reports (TRs) scheduled for peer
review: vinylidene chloride, cobalt
metal dust, tetrabromobisphenol A
(TBBPA), and glycidamide. The draft
TRs should be available by September
20, 2013, at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/
36051. The peer-review meeting is open
to the public and preregistration is
requested for both public attendance
and comment. Information about the
meeting and registration are available at
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36051.
DATES:
Meeting: October 29, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
to approximately 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Daylight Time (EDT).
Document Availability: Draft TRs
should be available by September 20,
2013, at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/
36051.
Public Comments Submissions:
Deadline is October 15, 2013.
Pre-Registration for Meeting and/or
Oral Comments: Deadline is October 25,
2013.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting Location: Rodbell
Auditorium, Rall Building, NIEHS, 111
T.W. Alexander Drive, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709.
Meeting Web page: The draft TRs,
preliminary agenda, registration, and
other meeting materials are at https://
ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36051.
Webcast: The meeting will be
available via webcast at https://
www.niehs.nih.gov/news/video/
index.cfm.
SUMMARY:
Dr.
Lori White, NTP Designated Federal
Official, Office of Liaison, Policy and
Review, DNTP, NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233,
MD K2–03, Research Triangle Park, NC
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
27709. Phone: (919) 541–9834, Fax:
(301) 480–3272, Email: whiteld@
niehs.nih.gov. Hand Delivery/Courier:
530 Davis Drive, Room 2136,
Morrisville, NC 27560.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Meeting and Registration: The
meeting is open to the public with time
set aside for oral public comment;
attendance at the NIEHS is limited only
by the space available. Pre-registration
to attend the meeting and/or provide
oral comments is by October 25, 2013,
at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36051.
Visitor and security information for
those attending in person is available at
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/
visiting/index.cfm. Individuals with
disabilities who need accommodation to
participate in this event should contact
Dr. Yun Xie at phone: (919) 541–3436 or
email: yun.xie@nih.gov. TTY users
should contact the Federal TTY Relay
Service at (800) 877–8339. Requests
should be made at least five business
days in advance of the event.
The preliminary agenda and draft TRs
should be posted on the NTP Web site
(https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36051) by
September 20, 2013. Additional
information will be posted when
available or may be requested in
hardcopy, see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Following the meeting, a
report of the peer review will be
prepared and made available on the
NTP Web site. Registered attendees are
encouraged to access the meeting Web
page to stay abreast of the most current
information regarding the meeting.
Request for Comments: The NTP
invites written and oral public
comments on the draft TRs. The
deadline for submission of written
comments is October 15, 2013, to enable
review by the peer-review panel and
NTP staff prior to the meeting. Preregistration to provide oral comments is
by October 25, 2013, at https://
ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36051. Public
comments and any other
correspondence on the draft TRs should
be sent to the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Persons submitting written
comments should include their name,
affiliation, mailing address, phone,
email, and sponsoring organization (if
any) with the document. Written
comments received in response to this
notice will be posted on the NTP Web
site, and the submitter will be identified
by name, affiliation, and/or sponsoring
organization.
Public comment at this meeting is
welcome, with time set aside for the
presentation of oral comments on the
draft TRs. In addition to in-person oral
comments at the meeting at the NIEHS,
E:\FR\FM\04SEN1.SGM
04SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54473-54476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21441]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Justice Programs
[CDC-2013-0020; NIOSH-269]
Request for Information: Collection and Use of Nonfatal Workplace
Violence Information from the National Crime Victimization Survey
AGENCY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) of the Office of Justice Programs, Department of
Justice (DOJ), are collaborating to request public comments to inform
BJS's approach in collecting and reporting data related to nonfatal
workplace violence in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
NIOSH and BJS request input on these issues. The instructions for
submitting comments can be found at www.regulations.gov. Written
comments submitted to the Docket will be used to inform BJS with the
planning and collection of workplace violence data in the NCVS. Dates:
Public Comment Period: Comments must be received by November 27, 2013
to be considered by BJS and NIOSH. Addresses: Written comments: You may
submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories,
MS-C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the
agency name and docket number [CDC-2013-0020; NIOSH-269]. All relevant
comments, including any personal information provided, will be posted
without change to https://www.regulations.gov.
All information received in response to this notice will be
available for public examination and copying at the NIOSH Docket
Office, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
I. Background
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
is the federal agency responsible for conducting research to prevent
workplace injuries and illnesses. Workplace violence is a common threat
to worker safety and health, and NIOSH has a long history of conducting
research on the prevalence, risk factors for, and prevention of work-
related violence.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau
of Justice Statistics collects data on rape, sexual assault, robbery,
aggravated assault, and simple assault against persons age 12 or older
through the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS
gathers data from a continuous, nationally representative sample of
approximately 86,000 households comprising nearly 156,000 persons age
12 or older in the United States, reported and not reported to the
police. The NCVS provides information about victims (e.g. age, gender,
race, Hispanic origin, marital status, income, and educational level),
offenders (e.g. gender, race, approximate age, and victim/offender
relationship), and the nature of the crime (time and place of
occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic
consequences).
NCVS respondents who report that they were a victim of a violent
crime (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, or simple
assault) while working or on duty are included in NCVS special reports
on workplace violence. BJS published special reports on workplace
violence in 1994, 1998 (covering 1992-96), 2001 (covering 1993-99),
2011 (covering 1993-2009) and 2013 (focused on government workers,
1994-2011). These reports are available on the BJS Web site as part of
their violence in the workplace series at https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=56
All of the workplace violence special reports used the same
classification system to determine work-relatedness of the incidents.
To qualify as workplace violence the incident must have:
[[Page 54474]]
Involved someone 16 years of age or older,
Had the activity variable coded as ``working'',
Involved a violent crime,
Involved a person who had a job or worked at a business
the week preceding the survey or during the 6 months preceding the
survey, and
The event must have occurred within the United States.
Additionally, workplace violence to teachers commuting to and from
work were included to make the data comparable to estimates presented
in the Department of Education/BJS report, ``Indicators of School Crime
and Safety.'' The NCVS is a nationally representative household survey
so it excludes persons who are homeless, persons living in military
barracks or stationed outside of the U.S., and those persons living in
institutionalized group quarters, such as prisons, mental health
facilities, and certain hospitals and assisted-living facilities. In
2002, NIOSH and BJS conducted The Workplace Risk Supplement to the
NCVS, which was administered to employed respondents who were 16 years
or older in all households selected for the NCVS during the 6-month
reference period from January through June 2002. This supplement used
the same classification system described for the special reports.
II. Purpose of Request for Comments
NIOSH and BJS are collaborating to improve and enhance the
collection of nonfatal workplace violence data through the NCVS. This
is part of a larger BJS effort to re-design and increase the utility of
nonfatal violence data collected through the NCVS.
NIOSH and BJS are seeking input on: (1) Methods to identify work-
related violence using the existing variable structure within the NCVS,
and (2) other suggested enhancements to improve the ability of the NCVS
to describe the prevalence, patterns, and trends in workplace violence.
Responses to this request for information will be considered by BJS in:
(1) The re-design of the NCVS, (2) an on-line NVCS reporting tool, and
(3) future BJS workplace violence reports. NIOSH and BJS also
anticipate utilizing this information in a jointly issued technical
report on methodological issues with identifying and reporting on
nonfatal workplace violence through the NCVS.
III. Identifying Workplace Violence in the NCVS
NIOSH defines workplace violence as ``violent acts, including
physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at
work or on duty.'' The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) defines workplace violence as any act or threat of physical
violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive
behavior that occurs at the work site. These are broad definitions and
most data collection systems will not capture all incidents of
workplace violence. For example, data on workplace violence collected
through the NIOSH/Consumer Product Safety Commission, National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System- Work Supplement (NEISS-Work),
which is collected from a nationally representative sample of hospital
emergency departments, is more likely to capture workplace violence
that results in physical injuries than other forms that do not result
in injury such as threats, harassment and intimidation, https://www2a.cdc.gov/risqs/wrtechinfo.htm.
Additionally, the NIOSH and OSHA definitions are restricted to
incidents that occur at work and do not encompass violence that may
have a work-association but not have occurred at work, such as violence
associated with commuting to and from a workplace. BJS and NIOSH plan
to address these issues and the implications for assessing trends in
workplace violence using the NCVS and other data sources in the
anticipated jointly-issued technical report on workplace violence
methodological issues in the NCVS.
Determining work-relatedness of the violent incidents recorded by
the NCVS is not straightforward. Many factors influence the decision to
include the case as a workplace violence incident. The work-related
variables that are currently collected in the NCVS appear below. Any
combination of these variables is possible. Immediately below the
variable list are alternatives for variable combinations that are
currently being used or considered in determining work-relatedness in
the NCVS. There are advantages and disadvantages to different methods,
including the ability to assess trends using historical data and being
more inclusive or exclusive in identifying work associations.
Input is requested regarding the best combination of variables to
determine work-relatedness of the violent incident. In particular, what
would be your first and second choices for a combination of variables
to identify work-related violence and why?
NCVS crime incident report instrument: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245#Questionnaires
IV. Currently Collected Variables in the NCVS That May Be Considered to
Establish Work-relatedness
Household-level Variables
1. Does anyone in this household operate a business from this
address?
2. Is there a sign on the premises or some other indication to the
general public that a business is operated from this address?
Person-level Variables
3. Did you have a job or work at a business last week?
4. Did you have a job or work at a business during the last 6
months?
5. Did that (job/work) last 2 consecutive weeks or more?
6. Which of the following best describes your job?
Medical Profession
Physician
Nurse
Technician
Other
Mental Health Services Field
Professional (Social worker/Psychiatrist)
Custodial care
Other
Teaching Profession
Preschool
Elementary
Junior high or middle school
High school
College or university
Technical or Industrial School
Special education facility
Other
Law Enforcement Security Field
Law enforcement officer
Correctional officer
Security guard
Other
Retail Sales
Convenience or liquor store clerk
Gas station attendant
Bartender
Other
Transportation Field
Bus driver
Taxi cab driver
Other
Something Else
7. Is your job with a private company, federal government, state,
county, or local government, or yourself?
8. While working at your job, do you work mostly in city, suburb,
or rural area or combination of these?
9. Are you employed by a college or university?
[[Page 54475]]
Incident-Level Variables
10. Was the victim injured? How (Type of injury)?
11. What were you doing when this incident (happened/started)?
Working or on duty
On the way to or from work
On the way to or from school
On the way to or from other place
Shopping, errands
Attending school
Leisure activity away from home
Sleeping
Other activities at home
Other
12. Were you employed at the time of the incident?
13. What was the type of work performed at the time of the
incident?
14. Is this business incorporated?
15. What was the business type?
16. What was the type of industry at the time of the incident?
17. Collapsed industry code.
18. Collapsed occupation code.
19. While working at this job, did you work mostly in a city,
suburb, rural area, or combination of any of these?
20. Did this incident happen at your work site?
21. Did you usually work days or nights?
22. Is this your current job?
23. Did you lose time from work because of the injuries you
suffered in this incident?
24. How many days did you lose because of injuries?
25. Did you lose any pay that was not covered by unemployment
insurance, sick leave or some other source?
26. About how much pay did you lose?
27. Did you lose any (other) time from work because of this
incident for such things as cooperating with a police investigation,
testifying in court, or repairing or replacing damaged or stolen
property?
28. How much time did you lose altogether because of cooperating
with a police investigation, testifying in court, or repairing or
replacing damaged or stolen property?
29. During these days, did you lose any pay that was not covered by
unemployment insurance, paid leave, or some other source?
30. About how much pay did you lose?
31. Were there any (other) household members 16 years or older who
lost time from work because of this incident?
32. How much time did they lose altogether?
Alternatives for determining work-relatedness
Variable alternatives currently used or under consideration and some
advantages and disadvantages are:
Alternative I: Current Coding Scheme Used by the BJS:
Age 16 (victims age 16 or older),
Had a job or worked at a business last week or during the
last 6 months,
Excludes outside of U.S.
Activity at time of incident--working,
Violent crime
Advantages--can be used to generate rates of workplace violence by
occupation and other aspects, facilitates trend analyses with earlier
data, relatively consistent with NIOSH and OSHA definitions of
workplace violence (with exception of non-robbery threats of violence,
harassment and intimidation which are not included in the NCVS
definition of a violent crime and the inclusion of commuting injuries
for teachers)
Disadvantages--calculations of rates of workplace violence by
occupation may not be as accurate because job at the time of incident
may be different from current job. The percentage of workplace violence
that occurred in which the job at the time of the incident was
different from the job at the time of the NCVS interview increased from
44% in 2007 to about 56% in 2011.
Alternative II
Age 16 or older,
Had a job or worked at a business last week or during the
last 6 months,
Job at time of incident was the same as job mentioned at
beginning of NCVS interview,
Excludes outside of U.S.,
Activity at time of incident-working,
Violent crime.
Advantages--relatively consistent with NIOSH and OSHA definitions
of workplace violence, allows for a more accurate calculation of rates
of workplace violence by occupation than what is done currently
(everyone has the same job for the numerator and denominator).
Disadvantages--persons that experienced workplace violence at a
time where their job does not match their job at the NCVS interview are
excluded. As mentioned above, the percentage of workplace violence in
which the job at the time of the incident was different from the job at
the time of the NCVS interview has increased in recent years from 44%
in 2007 to about 56% in 2011. These cases would be excluded from
estimates of workplace violence by using Alternative II.
Alternative III
Age 16 or older,
Excludes outside of U.S.,
Activity at time of incident-working,
Violent crime
Advantages--relatively consistent with NIOSH and OSHA definitions.
Disadvantages--calculations of rates of workplace violence by
occupation may not be as accurate because job at the time of incident
may be different from current job.
Alternative IV
Age 16 or older,
Had a job or worked at a business last week or during the
last 6 months,
Excludes outside of U.S.,
Activity at time of incident-working or on the way to/from
work,
Violent crime
Advantages--includes violence committed on the way to and from work
as well as while working.
Disadvantages--calculations of rates of workplace violence by
occupation may not be as accurate because job at the time of incident
may be different from current job. Inconsistent with NIOSH and OSHA
definitions of workplace violence which exclude violence during the
commute to or from work.
Alternative V
Age 16 or older,
Excludes outside of U.S.,
Activity at time of incident- working,
Employed at the time of the incident,
Violent crime.
Advantages--know for certain the victim was employed at the time of
the incident, relatively consistent with NIOSH and OSHA definitions.
Disadvantages--calculations of rates of workplace violence by
occupation may not be as accurate because job at the time of incident
may be different from current job.
Alternative VI
Age 16 or older,
Excludes outside of U.S.,
incident happened at your worksite,
violent crime.
Advantages--know for certain where the crime took place.
Disadvantages--excludes workplace violence that occurs while a
person is on duty away from the worksite and thus inconsistent with
NIOSH and OSHA definitions of workplace violence.
V. The second item for which we are requesting input is any other
suggested enhancements to improve the ability of the NCVS to report on
workplace violence. Two enhancements that are currently being explored
by BJS and
[[Page 54476]]
NIOSH are: (1) The ability to report NCVS data by a workplace violence
typology used by NIOSH and public health researchers (Type I--Criminal
Intent, Type II--Customer/client, Type III--Worker-on-Worker, and Type
IV Intimate Partner Violence [detail available at https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/iprc/resources/workplace-violence-report.pdf]), and
(2) revisions to the categories of occupations that are used in
reports. One of the factors that will need to be considered with
respect to occupation categories is the NCVS sample size and the
ability to reliably report on specific occupations.
In a recent review of the NCVS data collection instrument, there
were a number of potential limitations that were identified. These
include, but are not limited to:
1. The victim-offender relationship variable is first conditioned
on whether the victim knows the perpetrator or not. This complicates
the use of such relationships as ``customer/client or patient.'' A
worker who was assaulted by a customer who was also a stranger would be
skipped out of the victim-offender relationship variable. Only
customers that were considered casual acquaintances or well known to
the victim would be filtered into the specific relationship coding. So
it is possible that many offenders who were customers or clients end up
in the stranger coding.
2. Currently, NCVS collects limited occupation types (see section
IV, 6). These categories are primarily considered high-risk
occupations for certain victimization types. The categories do not
reflect changes in the workforce since 1990. Input is requested
regarding potential enhancements to the collection and reporting of
nonfatal workplace violence in the NCVS. In particular, do you think it
would be useful for BJS to include the public health typology of
workplace violence in future workplace violence reports and in the on-
line NCVS reporting tool? Do you have suggestions for reporting on
specific occupation or occupation groups and/or methods to address
limitations regarding the NCVS sample size? Do you have suggestions for
addressing the potential limitations identified in the survey, such as
issues with the relationship variable?
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Daniel Hartley, 1095 Willowdale
Road, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505, telephone (304) 285-5812. Email:
DHartley@cdc.gov.
Dated: August 20, 2013.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dated: August 26, 2013.
William Sabol,
Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2013-21441 Filed 9-3-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P
