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Worksite NEWS

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 10 OCTOBER 2011

GOING GREEN

Eco energy workers are keeping pace

The industrial world is changing - believe it or not- and no sector has grasped the concept as firmly as the energy industry. ECO-FRIENDLY is now a trade mark term for an occupation that has been the target of ecological dogma for decades. How times have changed! Many energy industry occupations -from natural gas and conventional oil, to the oilsands -require workers with specialized environmental knowledge. The oil and gas industry's focus is to be environmentally responsible, and to use technology to limit its impact on the environment, says Cheryl Knight, executive director and CEO of the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada. "Oil and gas resources are a necessity for our daily lives," she says. "Today, we don't see too many cars with windmills on the hoods. We rely on oil and gas, and that's a fact. "We are accessing nonrenewable resources, but endeavouring to do it in a sustainable way. While we are developing alternative sources of energy, the best thing we can do is approach resource extraction in a sustainable way." The oil and gas industry has developed a variety of technologies that improve or minimize environmental impact. For example, service companies have focused on developing environmentally friendly drilling fluids. Companies are also looking to reduce, reuse and recycle water -a goal that works on many levels, including financial, says Knight. "Saving water saves money," she says, adding the oil and gas industry is driven not only by regulations and public awareness issues, but also operational efficiency. Because of this increased focus on environmental responsibility, there's a need for a variety of environment-related workers, including water management technicians and specialists; environmental technicians and specialists; environmental regulatory specialists, as well as land management and reclamation workers. Two environment-related occupations that have made the CPHRC's Top 10 list, based on percentage growth, are environmental technician and public/environmental health and safety inspectors. Environmental technicians comes in at No. 1 -the CPHRC is projecting that by 2020, the oil and gas industry will need 109 per cent more environmental technicians, compared to 2009.

SEE: Green Workers...page 8

www.enform.ca

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