John A Newquist
Author
John Newquist is a nationally recognized expert in occupational safety and health with over four decades of experience spanning regulatory enforcement, training, consulting, and expert witness testimony. As a former Assistant Regional Administrator for OSHA and a lifelong safety educator, John has shaped safety practices across the country, training over 10,000 professionals in the past four years alone.
John began his career with the U.S. Department of Labor – OSHA in 1982, where he rose through the ranks from Safety Engineer to Area Director and ultimately to Assistant Regional Administrator for the Midwest. He led compliance operations, developed safety policy, managed high-profile investigations, and oversaw more than 250 Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) sites. He also contributed nationally as Acting Director of the Office of State Plans and a key member of the Department of Labor’s IT modernization committee.
From 1990 to 2016, John played a central role in training hundreds of OSHA compliance officers in technical and legal aspects of enforcement. He also helped develop cornerstone OSHA courses, including the original Fall Arrest Systems and Process Safety Management training.
In 2012, John transitioned into private consulting, where he has worked with companies across industries to dramatically reduce injury rates, improve safety culture, and ensure OSHA compliance. Notable achievements include a year-long zero-recordable project at Argonne Labs, reducing injuries by 97% for a large wood products firm, and contributing to 1.5 million injury-free hours at the largest AI data center in the U.S. He has consulted for manufacturers, construction firms, and data centers, delivering mock inspections, audits, site-specific training, and litigation support.
John is a certified expert witness and has contributed to numerous successful legal outcomes, including a $9.2 million settlement for a worker injured while cleaning a screw auger. He has testified in U.S. District Courts and before the OSH Review Commission, including precedent-setting silica and lockout/tagout cases.
Academically, John holds a B.S. in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master’s in Industrial Management from Northern Illinois University. He maintains multiple certifications from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, including CSP, SMS, STS, STSC, and CIT, and continues to train through OSHA-accredited centers nationwide.
John is also a published author of over a dozen books on OSHA compliance and safety topics, including Construction Safety: Using the OSHA Top 25 Physical Hazards and The Big Book of OSHA Lockout. His publications serve as go-to resources for safety professionals preparing for BCSP certifications and OSHA training.
