Brooks in ‘Forbes’ on Nomination of New OSHA Head

St. Louis Partner Erin Brooks was quoted April 12 by Forbes (republished by Forbes on Oct. 26) regarding President Joe Biden’s nomination of Doug Parker to head OSHA, and what it might mean for business leaders. Parker is now the chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health; previously, he served in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration and was a member of the Biden-Harris transition team that focused on worker health and safety issues. Brooks told the publication that Parker’s nomination “... would fill a several year void in OSHA, which did not have a Senate approved Assistant Secretary in the Trump administration. That vacancy led to lower enforcement activity – something we expect will be quickly reinstated once OSHA leadership is restored, resulting in more inspections and OSHA scrutiny. We expect the initial initiatives will continue to focus on Covid-19 in view of the Inspector General’s February 2021 report offering sharp criticism of OSHA’s management of COVID-19.”