The Biden administration plans to nominate California official Doug Parker to lead OSHA as the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, the White House said on Friday, April 9, 2021.

In response to President Biden's executive order on protecting worker health and safety, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a national emphasis program focusing enforcement efforts on companies that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the coronavirus.

As directed by President Joseph Biden’s Executive Order issued on January 21, 2021 requiring the Federal Government to take swift action to protect workers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released updated guidance on how to prevent exposure and the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Monday, February 1, launched an investigation into widespread COVID-19 infections and deaths in US meatpacking plants. Representative James Clyburn, Chairman of the Subcommittee, sent letters to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods and JBS USA.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams resigned at President-elect Joe Biden’s request on Wednesday, as the incoming president sought to make a symbolic break with his predecessor’s covid-19 response.

Meatpacking workers and their employers are pushing to the front of the line for coronavirus vaccinations as state governments roll out their distribution plans to combat the pandemic, according to Bloomberg Law.

On his first day in office, President Biden sent a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies to modernize the government’s regulatory review process, according to a statement released by the White House.

The Biden administration on Inauguration Day wasted no time in naming former United Steelworkers safety official Jim Frederick as acting chief of OSHA, part of a team of interim leaders at the Labor Department who will help jump start the new administration’s labor and employment agenda.

The National Safety Council congratulates Jim Frederick on his appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA, announced on January 20, 2021. 

The National Safety Council applauds President-elect Biden’s comprehensive and aggressive American Rescue Plan. NSC previously called for this much-needed federal guidance to help the country respond to and manage this pandemic.