Jay Hughes

Jay Hughes

Advisor

Jay is an experienced emergency management professional with 30 years in industrial emergency services, industrial operations, and municipal firefighting. Throughout his career, he has held leadership roles overseeing industrial emergency management and response programs, led industrial response teams, developed and facilitated emergency exercises for high-risk environments, and ensured programs met organizational and regulatory requirements. Jay’s operational experience spans the specialty chemicals and oil & gas industries, including project management and incident investigation. In addition to his industrial emergency response experience, he served as a part-time municipal firefighter, responding to a range of community-based emergencies and working within multi-agency environments. His background across both industrial emergency response and municipal firefighting supports practical, risk-informed emergency management solutions tailored to distinct operational contexts.

Current Responsibilities

Consultant

Years of Experience

30

Location

Alberta

Qualifications

Graduate Diploma – Disaster and Emergency Management at Royal Roads University
Chemical Technology Diploma – NAIT

Certifications

NFPA 1001 Firefighter Level I and II
NFPA 472 Haz Mat Responder – Operational Level
NFPA 1002 Driver/Operator – Pumper Level and Aerial Level
NFPA 1021 Fire Officer I
NFPA 1051 Wildland Fire
NFPA 1081 Industrial Fire Brigade – Incipient/Structural/Exterior Level
NFPA 1041 Instructor Level I
NFPA 1521 Incident Safety Officer
ICS 100, 200 and 300 Incident Command System
Trained in Technical Rope Rescue and Ice Rescue
ICISF Critical Incident Stress Management – Individual and Group

INDUSTRIAL EMERGENCY SERVICES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

  • Oversee emergency management and emergency response programs including training and exercises for production fire crews, fire brigade, technical rescue team and response management teams.
  • Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, internal standards and best practices.
  • Respond to emergencies and upset conditions, ensuring that established emergency response plans and standard operating procedures are followed.
  • Develop and maintain emergency response documentation, including Emergency Management Standards & Best Practices, Business Continuity Plans, Emergency Response Plan, Pre-plans, Standard Operating Procedures, Job Performance Requirements and job training curricula.

INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS EXPERIENCE

  • Carry out manufacturing and processing in the pharmaceutical, specialty chemicals, and oil & gas industries, providing guidance and expertise to achieve optimal operations while meeting production targets.
  • Provide leadership and stewardship in line with operational excellence management systems.
  • Manage projects to set up new equipment, prepare and execute qualification protocols, and develop standard operating procedures and master operating instructions in emerging technology.
  • Supervise staff across shifts, prioritizing and directing maintenance when necessary, in both unionized and non-unionized environments.
  • Participate in process hazard assessment, risk analysis and formal hazard assessment in line with current industry best practices and regional OHS guidelines.
  • Conduct incident investigations following TapRooT and causal analysis.

MUNICIPAL EMERGENCY SERVICES EXPERIENCE

  • Respond to emergencies, including but not limited to fire suppression, motor vehicle accidents, rescue, and first responder medical aid.
  • Conduct fire prevention activities, provide public education, and perform vehicle and station maintenance, maintaining a focus on quality customer service.
  • Train with other departments and industries and participate in large-scale simulations and scenarios.
  • Prepare and deliver training courses as an NFPA-certified fire service instructor.