Employment Regulation To Watch In 2012

Ed Foulke, co-chair of the firm's Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management Practice Group and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under President George W. Bush, was quoted in the January 1 Law360 article "Employment Regulation To Watch In 2012." The article notes labor and employment legislation expected to be passed by Congress in 2012. Ed commented on OSHA's I2P2 rule, which would require companies to locate and address workplace health and safety hazards, shifting the burden for identifying hazards onto employers. Ed said an I2P2 rule could be very expensive, both in terms of the research employers would have to do and the implementation of safeguards to deal with hazards, It would impact small and mid-size companies, which account for most U.S. businesses, much more dramatically than larger, more sophisticated companies, which may already be doing something similar to what the rule would call for. The I2P2 rule has yet to be proposed, but is at the forefront of OSHA's agenda. Ed said, "They've stated clearly that this is their top priority. I think it will be hard to get there, but I think they'll push to get it done."