CHICAGO, March 7, 2012 – Leading government officials, labor representatives and labor law practitioners will discuss recent developments in OSHA and related areas at a conference of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee March 13-16 in Sarasota, Fla.

News reporters may attend the conference at no charge. For media credentials or for other information, please contact Ira Pilchen, ira.pilchen@americanbar.org, 312-988-5743.

Please click here for a full conference agenda. Sessions include:

• Remarks by David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA;
• OSHA’s Increased Emphasis on Enforcement;
• OSHA’s Increased Pressure on State Plans;
• Rules and Rulemaking: I2P2 and OSHA’s Use of Interpretations;
• OSHA’s Increasing Emphasis on Whistle-blowing;
• The Impact of the New OSHA on Small Business;
• OSHA’s New Emphasis on Enterprise Enforcement;
• Developments in Mine Safety and Health;
• Ethics and Professionalism in the Practice of OSHA Law.

Speakers include:

• David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA;
• Thomasina Rogers, chair, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission;
• Mary Lucille Jordan, chair, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission;
• Covette Rooney, chief administrative law judge, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission;
• Marc Freedman, executive director of labor law policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce;
• Eric Frumin, health and safety coordinator, Change to Win (national labor organization).

The 25,000 members of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law represent all perspectives of labor and employment law: employer, union, employee, public, and neutral. All are committed to a balanced discussion of employment issues in the U.S. and abroad.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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