On Safety

The On Safety blog has moved.

Michaels staying on at OSHA, according to report UPDATED

February 7, 2013

In an unprecedented move, it appears David Michaels may be staying on board as OSHA administrator during President Barack Obama’s second term.

The Small Business Administration is reporting that Michaels, his second-in-command Jordan Barab, and Chief of Staff Deborah Berkowitz will remain at OSHA.

With Michaels remaining at the agency, he will become the longest serving assistant secretary of labor in OSHA’s history. Before him, the longest serving OSHA administrator was Eula Bingham, who served from April 1977 to January 1981 – three years and nine months.

I’ve contacted OSHA and Department of Labor representatives seeking confirmation. I’ll report back here when they respond.

Update: An OSHA spokesperson has gotten back to me and confirmed Michaels, Barab and Berkowitz will all remain at OSHA for Obama’s final term.

The opinions expressed in "Washington Wire" do not necessarily reflect those of the National Safety Council or affiliated local Chapters.

Post a comment to this article

Safety+Health welcomes comments that promote respectful dialogue. Please stay on topic. Comments that contain personal attacks, profanity or abusive language – or those aggressively promoting products or services – will be removed. We reserve the right to determine which comments violate our comment policy. (Anonymous comments are welcome; merely skip the “name” field in the comment box. An email address is required but will not be included with your comment.)