Steve Hawkins

Steve Hawkins is currently the Administrator for the Tennessee OSHA division of the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development (TOSHA).

In this position he manages the day to day operations of TOSHA, supervising a staff of almost 100 employees that cover approximately 120,000 employers and 3,100,000 employees. The TOSHA program includes training and education, consultation, promulgation of standards and regulations, enforcement of the Tennessee OSH Act. He also serves as the liaison between TOSHA and Federal OSHA, meeting frequently with Federal OSHA officials at the Regional and National Office level. He has served four terms on the Federal Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health, and is currently serving his fifth term. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association, an organization representing all State OSHA programs.

In addition to his responsibilities as Administrator of TOSHA, Steve promotes workplace safety and health by educating employer groups and labor organizations about safety and health regulations and better methods of controlling and eliminating workplace hazards.

He has been a Labor & Workforce Development employee since 1986, beginning as an occupational safety specialist and subsequently serving as an area office safety supervisor, safety compliance manager with state wide responsibilities before being promoted to Assistant Administrator and then Administrator.

Steve has been appointed by Commissioner Burns Phillips as the department’s representative to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and to the Tennessee Emergency Response Commission. He is a member of the Tennessee Blasting Advisory Council, the Tennessee Associated Builders and Contractors Safety Advisory Committee, the Associated General Contractors Safety Committee, the Tennessee Government Leadership Council, and the Tennessee Road Builders Association Safety Committee, co-chair of the Tennessee Safety and Health Congress and a member of the Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Advisory board at Tennessee Technological University.

In 2016 Steve was awarded the Technologist of Distinction by Tennessee Technological University and admitted to the Academy of Renaissance Engineering.

Steve is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University earning a BS in Industrial Technology from the college of engineering in 1986.