All in the Family: How Heath Garrison Transformed Electrical Safety at NREL

All in the Family: How Heath Garrison Transformed Electrical Safety at NREL

Master Electrician and Safety Expert Is Among NREL's 2024 Distinguished Operations Staff

Most lessons in electrical safety seem like common sense: Use caution when unplugging a cord from an outlet. Do not place electrical cords where someone could trip over them. Do not plug one power strip into another. But, as the saying goes, common sense is not always common.

This is where the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Heath Garrison comes in.

Garrison's job is to ensure that NREL staff who work with electricity and other potentially hazardous materials do so safely. That is no small task at a national laboratory with more than 3,000 employees, some of whom work on-site at NREL's three campuses or Washington, D.C., office and some of whom work remotely. However, through efforts like an annual electrical safety training, Garrison has significantly raised the standard of electrical safety across the laboratory-so much so that he was named one of NREL's 2024 Distinguished Members of Operations Staff.

Electric Roots in the Texas Panhandle

For Garrison, who grew up in Amarillo, Texas, you might say electricity runs in the family. His brother, grandfather, and several uncles were all electricians who earned their certifications through the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union apprenticeships. Yet, while he had relatives who served as professional role models, Garrison had a difficult home life.

"My parents divorced when I was young," Garrison said. "Afterwards, I moved between my mom and my dad, lived with my grandparents for a bit, and even spent a few years in a state-run children's home. For a while, it seemed like no family wanted me."

Despite these challenges, Garrison was determined to make a better life for himself than the one he had grown up with.

"As I grew into my high school years, I was motivated to not end up where I'd been previously," Garrison said. "And if I decided to start a family, I wanted to make sure they had a better childhood than I did."

Garrison carried that motivation with him and followed his relatives' footsteps into an IBEW apprenticeship, graduating at the top of his class. He began his career as an electrician and wired commercial, industrial, and residential buildings for many years. Then, while he was working at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Pantex Plant, an old mentor from his union apprenticeship-now a colleague at Pantex-encouraged him to join the plant's electrical safety team.

"The electrical trade in Amarillo is a fairly small group," Garrison explained. "That mentor also knew my whole family, so he and I had remained close. I think he saw that I was sharp and driven, and he recognized that I could do more if I wanted to."

Time To Up the Voltage

That shift in focus led Garrisonto become the Pantex plant's electrical safety inspectorand, eventually,led him to NREL. After afriend who worked on NREL's Site Operations electrical engineering group encouraged himto apply,Garrison started at NREL as an electrical safety professional in 2013and stepped into his current role as Environment,Safety,Health,and Qualitygroup manager in 2015.Some of his proudest achievements inthat decade-plus are creatingan electrical safety training program and establishinga dedicated electrical safety team.

"When I started at NREL, there was no electrical safety team," Garrisonsaid. "Now, we have a staff of seven full-time safety officers, plus assessments that say NREL's electrical safety program is one of the best in the DOE complex."

True to his roots, being an NRELemployeeisa family affairfor Garrison.His wife, Lisa, is a business support professional with NREL'sThermal and Catalytic Process Developmentand Integrated Carbon Conversiongroups. His daughter, Zoe, is a business support professional with the Community Energy Transitions groupin NREL's Accelerated Deployment and Decision Support Center.

"We all work in different centers," Garrisonsaid, "but Lisa and Zoe look so much alike they often get mistaken for each other."

Garrisonalso has a son, Zane,who, though neitheran NRELemployeenor an electrician, also works in a trade profession.

"He's a certified welder and doing very well," Garrisonsaid. "He was studying to be a surgical technician when the pandemic hit. His program shifted to remote learning, which wasn'tfor him, so he went to trade school instead."

Reflecting on the career paths Garrison, his son, and so many in their family have taken, Garrison emphasizes the value of trade professions.

"Without peopleto do welding and electrical work, for example, we don't have infrastructure," Garrisonsaid. "Going to college and getting a four-year degree wasn'tmy path, but I'vehad a great career. I have a master electrician's license in multiple states and an international inspector's certification. I'man electrical safety instructor and consultant.I serve on expert electrical and fire safety committees.Those achievements helped me get to where I am now."

In that capacity, Garrisonis currently working on a new versionof the National Fire Protection Association70E, which is the workplace electrical safety standard that all workers must follow.Garrisontakes great prideinensuring NREL staffcan do their jobs safely.

"NREL is all about renewable energy-it'sright there in our name. The majority ofrenewable energy is electricity," Garrison said."We may not all be electrical workers, but everyone at NREL useselectricity.My team's job is to make sure NRELiansknow how to use it safely."