Foulke Leaves OSHA to Join Private Law Practice

November 11, 2008 -- Edwin G. Foulke Jr. has left OSHA to become a partner in a workplace safety and catastrophe management practice. Foulke, nominated to the position of assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health by President Bush in 2005, joins the law firm of Fisher & Phillips LLP. He will be working in the firm’s Tampa, Fla., office.

“I am extremely excited about joining a law firm which already enjoys a national reputation for the work its attorneys have done on many of the most difficult workplace safety cases,” said Foulke. “Fisher & Phillips’ commitment to assisting employers in strengthening workplace safety programs and protecting employees, coupled with its deep labor and employment resources, permits me to pursue a unique approach to workplace safety and employee relations. This approach will allow our clients to be more profitable and competitive in the global marketplace.”

           

Foulke has practiced workplace safety and health law for almost 30 years. During his OSHA tenure, which began in 2006, workplace injuries, illnesses and fatality rates dropped to their lowest level in recorded history. Chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission from 1990 to 1994, he is the only person to ever head both OSHA and the Commission.

           

It was reported by Occupational Health & Safety that Foulke probably would have been replaced by President-elect Barack Obama, whose victory guarantees new leaders of OSHA, MSHA, and the U.S. Labor Department will be named.