Notice2025-06432
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Bathtub Slip Resistance Study
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) announces that the Commission has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for approval of a new information collection for a bathtub slip resistance study to support work on a voluntary Safety Standard for Bathtub and Shower Structure. On January 6, 2025, CPSC published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments on the information collection request. The Commission received nine public comments. By publication of this notice, the Commission announces that CPSC has submitted to the OMB a request for approval of that collection of information.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 72 (Wednesday, April 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15978-15979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-06432]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2024-0045]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Bathtub Slip Resistance Study
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) announces that
the Commission has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) a request for approval of a new information collection for a
bathtub slip resistance study to support work on a voluntary Safety
Standard for Bathtub and Shower Structure. On January 6, 2025, CPSC
published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments on the
information collection request. The Commission received nine public
comments. By publication of this notice, the Commission announces that
CPSC has submitted to the OMB a request for approval of that collection
of information.
DATES: Submit comments on the collection of information by May 16,
2025.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments about this request by email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9e6e0fbe8f6dadccbc4c0dadac0c6c7e9c6c4cb87ccc6d987cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90dfd9c2d1cfe3e5f2fdf9e3e3f9fffed0fffdf2bef5ffe0bef7ffe6">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments by mail should be sent to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer
for the CPSC, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. Written comments that are sent to OMB
also should be submitted electronically at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>
under Docket No. CPSC-2024-0045.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Gillham, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301)
504-7791, or by email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#38484a59785b484b5b165f574e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d9a9abb899baa9aabaf7beb6af">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPSC seeks approval for the following
collection of information: \1\
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\1\ On April 8, 2025, the Commission voted (5-0) to publish this
notice.
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Title: Bathtub Slip Resistance Study.
OMB Number: New.
Type of Request: New information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: The objective of this
study is to conduct human slip research on three bathtubs on the market
and to measure the friction demand of participants stepping into and
out of the bathtubs when dry and wet. CPSC contracted with Arizona
State University (ASU) to conduct this study. Participants will be
recruited from the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. The experiments will be
conducted at ASU's Locomotion Research Laboratory. The study will
involve a total of three sessions to test three bathtub surfaces, where
participants will walk into the tub and step out while wearing fall
arresting harness systems for safety. During these sessions, resistance
forces under the foot and motion of the foot movements will be
measured. The study will quantify the minimum frictional performance
required for a bathing surface to reduce slips and falls. CPSC will
publish the study and will share the results of the study with the ASTM
F15.03 Subcommittee on Safety Standards for Bathtub and Shower
Structures working on replacing ASTM F462.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: Falls are the leading cause of injury and death for older
adults 65 and older.\2\ Information collected as part of the bathtub
slip resistance study is needed initially to support CPSC staff in
efforts to work with the ASTM F15.03 Subcommittee on Safety Standards
for Bathtub and Shower Structures to replace the obsolete ASTM F462
standard for bathing surface friction that ASTM withdrew in 2016. This
study will be used to inform CPSC of major requirements needed to
achieve an efficient and effective slip-resistance standard.
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\2\ Chowdhury et al., U.S. Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n.,
Consumer Product-related Injuries and Deaths Among Adults 65 Years
of Age and Older, 67-68 (2021), available at <a href="https://tinyurl.com/2t88v33m">https://tinyurl.com/2t88v33m</a>.
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Affected Public: Adults between ages 18 and 95 years old.
Estimated Number of Respondents: We expect up to 200 respondents
annually. Over the full authorized period of the study, which is three
years, up to 600 respondents may participate.
Frequency: One.
Total Estimated Annual Burden: Although response times will vary,
on average, it will take 2.5 hours for respondents to fully participate
in the study. Therefore, the annual estimated response burden is 500
hours (200 responses x 2.5 hours per response).
Total Estimated Annual Burden Cost: There are no costs to
respondents and no respondent recordkeeping requirements associated
with the study. There are no operating, maintenance, or capital costs
associated with the collection. Participants will receive $100 for
participation in the study.
Response to Public Comments:
Most commenters expressed support for the proposed information
collection with some commenters offering suggestions that were out of
scope. Other comments included discussing the sample size, requesting
clarity about the development of the standard, suggesting ways to
measure data, and seeking information about the equipment that will be
used to measure friction data.
An engineering consultant, a biomedical consultant, and an
anonymous commenter opined that the proposed research includes a small
sample size of bathtubs. The bathtubs in the study are representative
of three types of bathtub surfaces. Staff assessed that this is
adequate for gathering preliminary data on whether a minimum frictional
performance for reducing slips and falls exists.
The engineering consultant further commented seeking clarity on how
the results will be used to develop a standard. As stated in the
Summary of the Collection of Information, during the three sessions
where participants will step into and out of the bathtubs, the
resistance forces under the foot and motion of the foot movements will
be measured to quantify the minimum frictional performance required for
a bathing surface to reduce slips and falls to support ASTM's work in
developing the standard.
The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) commented that transition
from dry to wet surfaces should be considered, as unexpected changes in
traction can cause slip incidents. Staff notes that the study will
include transitions from dry to wet surfaces. TCNA also requested
clarification on how friction data will be collected. Friction data
will be collected using a force plate \3\ to quantify human gait and
balance.
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\3\ A force plate is a mechanical sensing system ``designed to
measure the ground reaction forces and moments involved in human
movements.'' More information available at: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/force-plate">https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/force-plate</a>.
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Another engineering consultant commented that CPSC's proposed
collection of information does not have practical utility because it
will not provide useful information to replace ASTM F462, and they
pointed to other research that should be considered.
[[Page 15979]]
Practical utility is defined as ``the ability of an agency to use
information, particularly the capability to process such information in
a timely and useful fashion.'' 44 U.S.C. 3502(11). As stated in the
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information, the study will quantify the minimum frictional performance
required for a bathing surface to reduce slips and falls. Staff intends
to work with the ASTM F15.03 Subcommittee on Safety Standards for
Bathtub and Shower Structures to replace the obsolete ASTM F462
standard for bathing surface friction that ASTM withdrew in 2016. This
study will be used to inform CPSC of major requirements needed to
achieve an efficient and effective slip-resistance standard. With this
information, the Commission details its need and ability to process and
use this information collection.
The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) also submitted comments
to suggest that CPSC should not conduct their own research and instead
rely on NFSI's research and standard. As stated in the Description of
the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the Information, the
Commission describes the need for this study to support CPSC's efforts
to work with the ASTM F15.03 Subcommittee on Safety Standard for
Bathtub and Shower Structures to replace the withdrawn ASTM F462
standard.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2025-06432 Filed 4-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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