Department of Labor Announces Senior OSHA Appointments
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced leadership changes at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), including Deputy Assistant Secretary Amanda Wood Laihow serving as the new acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
Douglas L. Parker previously led the agency under President Biden and President Trump’s nomination to head OSHA, the former UPS and Amazon safety executive David Keeling, is currently with the Senate HELP Committee. Shortly after Lori Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in as Labor Secretary, OSHA updated its organizational chart confirming Amanda Wood Laihow is the new Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Since February, Wood Laihow has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary alongside Scott Ketcham.
Amanda Wood Laihow – Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health,
Amanda Wood Laihow is a labor lawyer who previously served as a commissioner to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission from 2020 to 2023. She has also served as director of labor and employment policy for the National Association of Manufacturers, deputy general counsel on the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and as an assistant general counsel at the U.S. General Services Administration. As Deputy Assistant Secretary, Wood Laihow will oversee the Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management, Directorate of Administrative Programs, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, and the Directorate of Whistleblower Protection Programs.
Scott Ketcham, a longtime OSHA staffer, was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA in December 2024. Ketcham has previously served as the Director of the Directorate of Enforcement Programs, Director of the Directorate of Construction, and Deputy Director of the Directorate of Construction. Prior to those positions, Ketcham served as area director of OSHA’s Anchorage Area Office, Assistant Area Director in the Lubbock, Texas Area Office, and Acting Deputy Regional Administrator in the Seattle and Philadelphia Regional Offices. Ketcham will oversee the OSHA regions in Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Kansas, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco and the Directorate of Enforcement Programs and the Directorate of Construction.
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OSHA has also confirmed that Michael Asplen will serve as OSHA’s Senior Policy Advisor. Asplen has previously served as chief counsel to Commissioner Laihow at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, a counsel at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, managed Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Policy Institute, and was a policy associate at the National Association of Manufacturers.
