Although not always involved with the health and safety side of the industry, Rick Newlove has been involved in the natural resources sector for years. After earning an education in electronics and toiling in that field for four years, he made the move to forestry, which brought him up to the Fort St. John area to work for the forest district.
Newlove transferred his forestry background and his related experience with the permitting side of the oil and gas industry to the BC Oil and Gas Commission, where he spent ten years in roles ranging from geophysical manager to his final position as a director concerned with safety and emergency response.
“I was in compliance and enforcement,” he said. “I spent a couple years actually inspecting drilling and service rigs. I was also compliance enforcement regional manager. So, from my Oil and Gas Commission experience, I got a lot of regulatory background – which is an asset for this role – as well as a technical understanding.”
His experience with health and safety continued to grow after accepting a job with Northern Lights College, where he taught many of the safety courses in the industry training programs. It wasn’t easy for Newlove to leave the familiarity of the college, but he has no regrets about his decision.
“I’m really pleased to be here because it pulls a lot of my background and training together all in one specific location,” he explained. “I’m very happy to be with Enform,” he continued. “And in managing the Fort St. John office, I’ll be the key B.C. spokesperson for Enform. So, that’s a pretty promising position.”
“Obviously, I can touch base with a lot of the Calgary support network. There’s a huge amount of technical expertise on the Calgary side, as well as the leadership side. I’m building my career. I’d like to strengthen all my abilities, including leadership. And I think this a very strong organization to be able to accomplish that.”
“The passion for safety is probably one of the main things that I can probably bring to the role.”