1. Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board

Board Members and Executive Officer

Joseph M. Alioto Jr. is a veteran trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor. He has fought to protect consumers, small businesses, and victims of crime for over two decades. Alioto has represented consumers and small businesses in complex antitrust cases throughout the country. Most recently, he was lead counsel in the private action challenging the JetBlue/Spirit Airlines merger on behalf of everyday consumers. In 2010, he was named California Lawyer of the Year in antitrust law for his representation of independent pharmacies against Big Pharma. As a federal prosecutor for seven years, Alioto led large-scale racketeering prosecutions against violent organized crime groups and fought public corruption, including the conviction of a District Attorney investigator for bribery. In 2018, the Department of Justice recognized Alioto with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a federal prosecutor. Alioto earned his JD and MBA from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and Haas School of Business. His bachelor’s degree is from Georgetown University with honors. Alioto is a life-long San Franciscan and active member of his community. He is a board member of RescueSF, a city-wide coalition offering solutions to end homelessness. He volunteers his legal services to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 2020, Governor Newsom appointed Alioto to the governing board of California’s State Coastal Conservancy.

David Thomas (Modesto, California) is a President at the Northern California District Council of Laborers where he has also served as a business representative since 2009. Previously, Thomas was a business agent for the Laborers Local Union #73 from 2001 to 2009 and, from 1994 to 2001, was a business representative for the Northern California District Council of Laborers. Prior to that, he was a business representative for the Laborers Local Union #73 from 1987 to 1994. Thomas is a member of the San Joaquin Building Trades Council.

Chris Laszcz-Davis. As President of The Environmental Quality Organization (EQO) LLC, Chris brings strong collaborative management, industry and consulting related experience to the Board. She held positions at Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, including Vice-President, Corporate Environmental Affairs, Health, Safety and Operational Integrity; Corporate Director, Risk Assessment, Strategy & Compliance; Corporate Manager, Health & Safety; and Corporate Manager, Product Liability. Chris also worked at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories as an Industrial Hygiene Engineer and as Regional Manager, Industrial Hygiene & Medical Programs for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Chris has an M.S. from the University of Minnesota and is a Fellow of both the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and American Institute of Chemists (AIC). Laszcz-Davis Co-Chairs the global Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA); was a member of NIOSH's Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC); is a member of ASSP's Government Affairs Committee; recent Chair of ASSP’s Total Worker Health Task Force; recent member of ASSP’s Council on Professional Affairs (COPA); is a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA’s) Grand Challenges leadership team; and was President of both the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene and California Industrial Hygiene Council (CIHC). Chris lectures and speaks frequently, has chaired numerous OEH&S Conferences, authored numerous articles and chapters, been instrumental in orchestrating national professional telewebs, and been the recipient of national and state level awards. On a personal note, Chris is a huge advocate of “Believe in the power of one—one person can truly make a difference."

Derek Urwin, PhD is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCLA, an engineer with the Los Angeles County Fire Department assigned to Fire Station 170 in the city of Inglewood, and member of IAFF Local 1014. He currently chairs the FIRESCOPE Cancer Prevention Subcommittee, serves as Chief Science Advisor at the IAFF, and works collaboratively with academic researchers across the country to quantify firefighters' carcinogenic exposures and the associated biological effects. Dr. Urwin and collaborators recently established the California Firefighter Cancer Research Study, a collaborative research effort across the cancer control continuum at UCLA and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer that aims to reduce cancer risk for California firefighters.

David Harrison, of Fairfield, is currently serving as the Financial Secretary for the Operating Engineers Local Union #3. He has been a member of Local #3 since 1995 where he worked in the marine construction industry. In 2005, he went to work for the union as a Business Representative covering Solano County and in 2008 was promoted to Director of Safety over Local #3s four-state jurisdiction. In 2013, Harrison became the District Representative covering Napa and Solano counties. At that time, he was also appointed to the office of Auditor until 2016 where he was appointed to the office of Treasurer.  In 2019, he was appointed to his current position.  Harrison is a veteran of the United States Army and a 2017 graduate of the Harvard Trade Union Program.

Dr. Nola Kennedy has served as a professor at California State University, Northridge since 2018, where she is currently Department Chair and was an associate professor from 2013 to 2018. She was an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2000 to 2013 and manager of industrial hygiene at Drucker Health and Safety Management Inc. from 1987 to 1994. Kennedy is a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Master of Science degree in environmental health science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Kate Crawford, Director Construction Safety for STACK Infrastructure, serves in a national role for the company focused on Safety in Design, Construction Safety and Solutions Engineering. Her prior twenty plus years of industry experience includes large general contractors and with Associated General Contractors of California, where she focused on partnerships between industry, government, associations and trade councils to build educational and technical opportunities and emphasized advancing Work Zone Safety. Volunteer positions in service to the safety profession are on the Central Washington University Industry Advisory Council, supporting program development. Ms. Crawford is an officer of the American Society of Safety Professionals, San Francisco chapter, Construction Section and has received the ASSP Presidents Choice award.

Millicent Barajas has a state civil service career spanning 24 years, with the previous 14 years dedicated to Information Technology. As a technology leader, Millicent has played a pivotal role in various capacities, including leading IT strategic planning and measurement, launching three statewide IT leadership academies, and managing service teams that provided critical infrastructure services to numerous state departments. In IT project roles, Millicent served as a Project Director in the successful rollout of an IT modernization effort and delivered statewide training to assist departments in achieving their project outcomes more effectively. Before her focus on IT, as a budget analyst, Millicent was responsible for preparing accounting information and developing fiscal estimates for inclusion in the Governor’s Budget. Millicent holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon, and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Sacramento. She is passionate about helping others and is dedicated to streamlining complex processes.

October 2024