The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has completed changes to restructure its regional operations and created a region to better protect workers and educate employers as businesses expand and workforces grow in communities in several southeastern states.
OSHA has expanded its existing San Francisco region by combining management of its operations in Seattle in one regional office. The regions, previously named Regions 9 and 10, will encompass the new San Francisco region, in keeping with the agency’s new use of geographic designations to identify its regions.
In addition, OSHA has established a new region based in Birmingham to serve Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Florida Panhandle.
OSHA has renamed the regions using the following designations:
| Previous Region | New Region | Previous Region | New Region |
| Region 1 | Boston | Region 6 | Dallas |
| Region 2 | New York City | Region 7 | Kansas City |
| Region 3 | Philadelphia | Region 8 | Denver |
| Region 4 | Atlanta | Region 9/10 | San Francisco |
| Region 5 | Chicago |
The newly created Birmingham Region will be overseen by experienced OSHA leaders, including Regional Administrator Dorinda Hughes and Deputy Regional Administrator Jack Rector. Most recently, Hughes and Rector led the agency’s efforts in Seattle. Hughes has served as a deputy regional administrator, area director and assistant area director since joining OSHA as a compliance assistance specialist in 1991, and Rector has served as an OSHA safety and health compliance officer, assistant area director and area director since joining the agency in 2003.
OSHA’s restructuring is intended to bring its offices closer to communities in need of services, strengthen the agency’s presence in the southeastern U.S. The agency also anticipates the restructuring will reduce its response time to complaints, fatalities, imminent danger and significant events.