My first employment after graduating from university was with Imperial Oil Limited. I chose Imperial based on its reputation as a good company to work for but also because of my interest in automobiles and because I worked for an Esso service station part time while attending university. Much to my surprise I never worked for their automotive division but held numerous other positions involving marketing, safety, distribution, aviation with a large part of my career focusing on developing, evaluating and exercising emergency response and crisis management teams. I am pleased to say, it was a very rewarding career.
Various positions in Imperial Oil's products and chemical divisions provided me with experience with distributing oil and chemicals via truck, rail, pipeline and marine modes and to aviation refuelling. Some positions involved responsibility for distribution of products, other positions focused more on safety and developing emergency response plans.
Establishing a well equipped emergency operations centre at Imperial Oil's head office in Toronto and training crisis management team members significantly improved our capability to manage emergencies of any type. It was rewarding to see how effectively it worked as we used it to support numerous emergency simulations and real incidents.
This response unit and a response team was set up in Manitoba as part of a nation wide chemical industry Transportation Emergency Assistance Plan (TEAP). Working with other companies within the chemical industry to improve response capability for emergencies, provided many rewarding work experiences and opportunities.