In its semi-annual report to Congress on its upcoming agenda, the Department of Labor (DOL) revealed that the Occupational Safety (OSHA) and Health Administration and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will be finishing up some far-reaching rule-making decisions.
OSHA is busy revising its Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2), a program that will affect virtually every business in the United States. As a corollary, it also plans to revise its Log 300 to include a column for reporting of injuries and illnesses on the job.
OSHA also will be issuing a final rule to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classifying and Labeling Chemicals (GHS) into its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). This also will affect a large majority of American businesses—in fact, any firm using or manufacturing chemicals on the premises, even toner cartridges.
The EBSA, in addition to redefining "fiduciary," will be issuing rules with far-reaching effects. One such rule aims at clarifying the use of electronic means to inform employees of their benefit plans, another deals with benefit statements, and still another concerns improved fee disclosures on pension plans.
Much like OSHA’s I2P2 and HCS, the EBSA rules could have a huge effect on how corporate America conducts its business and could make fiduciaries more accountable for their management of benefit plans.