Deborah Berkowitz

Deborah Berkowitz joined OSHA as Chief of Staff for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in August 2009.

Ms. Berkowitz is the former Health and Safety Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (1989-1998) and worked as a Health and Safety Specialist as well as the Director of the Health and Safety Program at the Food and Allied Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO from 1979-1989. Prior to joining the Department of Labor, Ms. Berkowitz served as an independent consultant providing policy and capacity-building services to nonprofits and the Federal government.

Ms. Berkowitz coauthored the Meatpacking/Processing Chapter and served as the U.S. Chapter Editor for the Food Industry articles published in the ILO Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety, Fourth Edition. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and has earned a number of awards in her career, including the American Public Health Association's Alice Hamilton Award.