California’s Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) unanimously elected employer representative Nicholas Roxborough to chair the Commission in 2026.

CHSWC studies the workers’ comp system and makes recommendations for improvements, reporting directly to the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Governor. CHSWC is split evenly between employer and labor representatives, with the chair position alternating between the two camps.

In accepting his new position, Roxborough praised the outgoing chair, Mitch Steiger, for fostering collaboration and good-faith partnerships and pledged to emulate that approach.

Roxborough Takes the Reins

Commissioners voted on their 2026 chair at a public CHSWC meeting in December. Commissioner Shelley Kessler nominated Roxborough, with strong support from outgoing Chair Steiger, who praised Roxborough’s “thoughtful” approach.

Commissioners unanimously elected Roxborough, who returned Steiger’s praise and described CHSWC’s current iteration as the “best board” in the last 6 years. Specifically, Roxborough hailed Steiger for fostering a spirit of collaboration, which Roxborough intends to maintain, stating:

“I think this is the best board in terms of working collaboratively. The intellectual knowledge on this board comes from different perspectives, but people are well-informed. And that brings value to the state of California…

…I just hope to modestly carry out in [Steiger’s] footsteps and keep this board moving forward and doing great things for California.”

Commissioner Kessler echoed the commitment to good-faith collaboration across ideological divides, adding:

“I just think that what [Roxborough] said is really true. The ability to have an entity that actually works collaboratively for a good purpose is really fulfilling, especially given what’s going on in the world today.”

Roxborough is the managing partner at Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, LLP, a law firm representing employers nationally. According to the firm’s website, Roxborough is “credited with having literally made the law in California, taking on the largest insurance companies on behalf of employers.”

CHSWC’s Vital Mission

Per the DIR, CHSWC is “charged with examining the health and safety and workers' compensation systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to improve their operation.”

California legislators and regulators rely on CHSWC’s expertise when considering ways to improve the workers’ comp system. The Commission’s annual reports serve as authoritative breakdowns of the actual state of the system, including areas that require reform.

CHSWC comprises eight volunteer members, four representing employers and four representing organized labor. The Governor appoints four Commissioners; the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee each appoint two members. The position of chair flips between employer and labor representatives to maintain parity.

Under Roxborough’s leadership, we hope to see CHSWC continue its thoughtful and transparent examinations of how the workers' comp system fails to support injured workers.

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