Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.

As Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., heads the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its staff of more than 2,200 safety and health professionals, whistleblower investigators and support personnel.

Named by President George W. Bush to head OSHA on Sept. 15, 2005, Foulke was confirmed by the Senate on March 15, 2006, and sworn in as the head of the agency on April 3, 2006.

Prior to his nomination, 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. His practice areas included all topics of labor relations, specializing in occupational safety and health issues, workplace violence risk assessment and prevention, and accident and fatality prevention.

From 1990 to 1995, Foulke served on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, chairing the commission from March 1990 to February 1994. The three-member commission is an independent federal adjudicatory agency that renders decisions involving workplace safety and health citations arising from OSHA inspections.

Foulke served on the Workplace Health and Safety Committee for the Society for Human Resource Management from 2000 to 2004, including a two-year term as the committee’s chair. He was also a member of the Health and Safety Subcommittee for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Foulke has authored articles on workplace safety and health for various entities, including the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, American Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar Association, and the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry.

Foulke, a native of Perkasie, PA, graduated from North Carolina State University (with honors) in 1974. He earned his law degree from Loyola University in 1978, and a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1993. He also served as an adjunct professor at New Orleans’ St. Mary’s Dominican College. He was a high school and college all-American in swimming.

He is admitted to practice in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and the District of Columbia, and is admitted in the Fourth, Eleventh, and D.C. Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. He is married to Wendy Smith Foulke from Hampton, S.C.

OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's employees by setting and enforcing safety and health standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health.