Biden taps California safety leader to head OSHA

President Joe Biden on Friday named the chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker as his nominee for assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Labor.

Mr. Parker, based in San Francisco, previously 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 focused on worker health and safety issues, the White House said Friday. 

He has also held positions as a senior policy advisor and special assistant at the Department of Labor. He has served as head of Cal/OSHA since 2019. Prior to his appointment to Cal/OSHA, Mr. Parker was executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland, California-based legal services provider, according to a statement.