OSHA Ergonomics Deadline May Be Extended

December 12, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employers may get some additional time to comply with the new ergonomics standards.

The head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says the agency is considering a request to extend the January 16 deadline for employers to be grandfathered under new proposed ergonomics standards.

Agency Administrator, Charles N. Jeffress, told BNA of the deliberations last week.

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Extension Chord

Management consulting group Organization Resources Counselors had requested an extension until March 17 for the initial evaluation by employers, and to October 15 for employers to:

  • control musculoskeletal disorder hazards or
  • reduce them to the levels below those identified in the hazard identification tools
  • to evaluate hazards to assure that controls are effective

ORC has noted that employers have just 60 days from the publication of the standard to meet the requirements of the grandfather clause – 60 days in which there are major holidays and work outages.

– Nevin Adams                                         editors@plansponsor.com

Rough Ride Sends Participants Looking for Cover

December 11, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Despite continued volatility - and an uncertain presidential outcome - 401(k) investors were willing to ride it out, with no above normal trading volume days registered in November by the Hewitt 401(k) index.

A “normal” level of relative transfer activity occurs when the net daily movement of participants? balances as a percent of total 401(k) balances within the Hewitt 401(k) Index equals between 0.3 times and 1.5 times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months.

Fixed-Ation

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Transfer activity did edge up slightly on November 10 – the worst day of the month for the market – and transfers went primarily to fixed income alternatives on that day.

The highest trading day was November 14, a resurgent day for the markets. Participant monies flowed into international equities on that day.

On 13 of the 21 trading days in the month, participants moved from equities to fixed income, continuing October’s trend of net movement into fixed income.

On the other hand, new contributions continued to heavily favor large U.S. equities. At month’s end, the average allocation to equities held at about 73% of assets.

The Hewitt 401(k) index is based on data collected daily from 1.5 million 401(k) participants with approximately $68 billion in collective assets.

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