David’s career has included experience with management and operations of aerospace, energy research, and hazardous testing. David has also been successful sharing training programs with management, technical, and academic audiences on a variety of occupational safety and risk management topics.
David currently serves as the Occupational Safety and Health Manager for Battelle Energy Alliance at the Materials and Fuels Complex of the Idaho National Laboratory. In this role, David manages safety program and support equipment assessments, hazard characterization and mitigation planning, industrial hygiene monitoring, fire protection engineering, and workplace inspection associated with energy research and test operations.
In 2020, after nearly 35 years of federal service, David retired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), last serving as Assistant to the Director of Safety & Mission Assurance (SMA) at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. He was responsible for assuring effective governance of infrastructure-related regulations and requirements, and supported agency SMA training, facility safety, and safety culture initiatives. For 12 years starting in 2006, David served as the Chief of the Safety & Test Operations Division at JSC. Prior to that David served for 11 years as the Chief of SMA at the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) in New Mexico. He managed occupational safety programs associated with hazardous test operations, support systems, space flight crew training, construction, and emergency preparedness. He also oversaw WSTF quality engineering and assurance associated with flight hardware qualification, component failure analysis and repair, and materials compatibility testing. At JSC, David chaired an ad hoc committee chartered by the JSC Mission Operations Director to review and approve
protocols for commercial industry use of the Neutral Buoyance Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility. He also led a long-term cross-functional effort to clarify and reduce safety and health requirements at JSC, while simultaneously overseeing an approximate 50% injury rate reduction throughout his leadership of JSC’s safety program. In 2013, David completed a one-year temporary assignment with the NASA Safety Center, developing a training program guiding SMA professionals through the federal acquisition process, and revising NASA’s mishap investigation protocols. Early in his career at WSTF, David coordinated the site’s implementation and certification to the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard and led efforts to implement OSHA Process Safety Management and EPA Risk Management regulations for site hypergolic propellant operations. David also contributed to WSTF’s implementation and acceptance into OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program.
David began his aerospace career in 1985 with the Western Space & Missile Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, where he supported DoD space launch activities.
For over 10 years, David also served as an adjunct instructor with the Gulf Coast Safety Institute and the University of Houston – Clear Lake. He instructed students in Physical Hazard Control, Safety Program Management, and Fire Safety Engineering. He has also delivered seminars to industry and government participants on subjects such as Facility Risk Assessment, Safety Communication, and Accident Investigation.
David graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1985, and also earned an MS in Industrial Engineering from New Mexico State University in 2005. David is a Certified Safety Professional and Safety Management Specialist with the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and is a certified AS9100:2016 Aerospace Quality Management System Auditor with the International Aerospace Quality Group. David is a recipient of the NASA Silver Snoopy Award, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, and the NASA Manned Flight Awareness Honor.
David lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho, with his wife, Natasha, daughter, Lidiya, and son, George.
