OSHA chief Edwin G. Foulke Jr. will be the featured speaker at the Sept. 9 general session of the 2008 Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM) National Conference in Minneapolis, announced A. Cedric Calhoun, CAE, ACHMM executive director, according to an agency press release.

Foulke, who will discuss the state of workplace safety in the U.S., will address the ACHMM gathering at 10:15 a.m. during that day’s general session.

“ACHMM members and all environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) professionals who will be at the conference will take away from Assistant Secretary Foulke’s speech new insight into OSHA, how the federal agency addresses workplace safety and health issues, and how hazardous materials managers and all industry professionals can contribute to keeping our nation’s workers safe on the job,” Calhoun said. “We are grateful to Mr. Foulke for taking time from his extremely busy schedule to attend the ACHMM National Conference and excited he will be joining us.”

Before taking the helm at OSHA, Foulke was a partner with the law firm of Jackson Lewis, LLP in Greenville, S.C. and Washington, D.C. where he chaired the firm’s OSHA practice group. He specialized in occupational safety and health issues, workplace violence risk assessment and prevention, and accident and fatality prevention.

And from 1990 to 1995, Foulke served on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent federal adjudicatory agency that renders decisions involving workplace safety and health citations arising from OSHA inspections; he chaired the panel for four years beginning in March 1990. He also has authored numerous articles on workplace safety and health.

ACHMM’s 2008 National Conference, “Navigating the Future of EHS&S,” is scheduled for Sept. 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency at Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. It is an educational, training and networking event for all EHS&S, waste management and hazardous materials management professionals.

For more information about the ACHMM National Conference or to register today, contact ACHMM at (800) 437-0137 or visit the ACHMM Web site at www.achmm.org.