Newsom announces four appointments to the California Department of Industrial Relations
The Californer/10172414

The Gavin Newsom administration has announced four new appointments to two divisions in the California Department of Industrial Relations, including the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

According to the Mayor's office, Eric L. Rood from Yuba City is reinstated Chief for the Division of Apprenticeship Standards at the California Department of Industrial Relations. He has been serving the division since 2017. Rood has previously held several positions at the Department's Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement for seven years, including Assistant Chief, Chief of Public Works, Regional Manager, Hearing Officer, Industrial Relations Representative, and Deputy Labor Commissioner. Before that, he served the Sales and Use Tax Field Office for the California State Board of Equalization, a Business Tax Representative for six years.

The second appointment on the list is Eric O. Berg, who is reappointed as the Deputy Chief of Health of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health at the California Department of Industrial Relations. He has extensively worked with the same divisions in multiple positions, including Principal Safety Engineer, Acting Principal Safety Engineer, Senior Safety Engineer, Associate Safety Engineer, Associate Industrial Hygienist, and Assistant Industrial Hygienist since 1997. Before that, He served as an Occupational Health Specialist at the Santa Clara Center for Occupational Safety and Health for a year.

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Debra Lee will retain her position as the Deputy Chief of Safety in the Occupational Safety and Health Division at the California Department of Industrial Relations. She has been serving the same position for about seven years. Previously, she held multiple positions in the Department from 1994 to 2015, including Regional Manager, District Manager, Associate Industrial Hygienist and Assistant Industrial Hygienist. Lee has also worked as an Industrial Hygienist at Northrop Corporation for two years.

Carl S. Paganelli from San Francisco will become the Deputy Chief of Consultation Services, Process Safety Management, and Engineering Services for the Division of Occupational Safety and Health at the California Department of Industrial Relations.

He has previously served as Staff Counsel at the same department for six years. Paganelli has worked with Fidelity National Law Group, the Law Office of Carl Paganelli, Foley & Lardner LLP, Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson PC in the last 15 years. Before that, Paganelli served as the Chief Editor and Document Review Project Manager at Neil & Associates from 1989 to 2004. He also worked at Chez Panisse Restaurant as a Cook from 1998 to 2004.

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