California Safety Chief Nominated to Lead OSHA

By John Boling

Doug Parker, who previously served as assistant secretary for Mine Safety & Health in the Obama Administration, was nominated to lead its sister agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), by President Biden on April 9, 2021. Currently, he serves as the chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), a position he has held since 2019.

Cal/OSHA is one of five state agencies that have published a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), and he is sure to use that knowledge as he charts a path forward for the COVID-19 ETS order Secretary Walsh recently put on hold. OSHA is also expected to take a more aggressive approach to safety than during the prior Administration. The $100 million allocated to OSHA in the recent stimulus bill will help him hire staff for a hollowed-out inspector corps and other key positions.

The Senate has not scheduled a nomination hearing as of this writing but is expected to do so in the near future.

IIBEC Director of Government Relations, John Boling

Serving as IIBEC’s Director of Government Relations, Boling works to advance Member’s policy interests in states, provinces, and the national levels. Please contact him at jboling@iibec.org.