Propane Personality: Lyndon Rickards

Lyndon Rickards

Education

Southern Aroostook
Community High School (Maine)
Class of 1983

Work Experience

September 2019-Present
Propane Education & Research Council
⦁ Director of Safety and Compliance
1996-2019
Eastern Propane & Oil
⦁ AVP, Risk Management
⦁ Safety and Training Manager
⦁ Technical Trainer and Support Representative
⦁ Service Technician
1986-96
D.F. Richard Energy
⦁ Service and Delivery Representative

A passion for safety

One’s passion comes from history. In Rickards’ case, it was his work with two family propane companies that stoked his passion for propane and safety. That passion derives from his love of family – his home family and work family – and propane customers. “It’s about everyone’s personal safety,” he says. “I always preached to employees about going home to their families each night and the importance that the customers need to feel safe in their homes and businesses every day as well.” Rickards says his understanding of safety codes and their intent to keep people safe also fueled his passion.

⦁ “Comply with regulatory requirements. … People think about fines for noncompliance. While they can be expensive, it’s beyond that. It’s your reputational risk associated with noncompliance that can have a bigger impact on your organization. … It’s the same thing with the codes. Follow the codes. They are there for a reason.”

⦁ “Make sure your employees are educated in performing the tasks you ask them to do. … You need to educate your customers to use propane in a safe manner.”

Lauding Eastern

Rickards calls his nearly 25 years at Eastern Propane & Oil “a time of opportunity and professional growth.” The Rochester, New Hampshire, company afforded Rickards the ability to grow within both the organization and the propane industry, he says. “I was given the latitude and flexibility to develop safety and education programs as I saw fit and meet company needs.” He says this career experience made his decision to leave Eastern one of the hardest of his life.

Rickards calls his nearly 25 years at Eastern Propane & Oil “a time of opportunity and professional growth.” Photo by LP Gas Staff

With PERC

Rickards couldn’t pass on a chance to impact the propane industry at a national level. “What motivated me to join PERC was my eagerness to assist [it] in taking the safety, compliance and educational programs to the next level. … Coming to PERC allows me to impact more people across the country.” In his new role, Rickards serves as a resource to the industry on anything related to safety, training and regulatory compliance. He provides oversight of the council’s safety and compliance programs, also ensuring programs are up to date with regulatory and code changes. He also works to develop safety-related technical training content to meet industry needs.

Rickards prefers not to single out any one mentor but says he valued his time on PERC’s Safety & Training Advisory Committee (now called a working group) and the Propane Gas Association of New England’s Emergency Response Committee. “I learned a lot from those members,” he says.

With PERC, Rickards will impact safety on a national level. Photo by LP Gas Staff

Hobbies

Rickards loves to ride snowmobiles in the winter and four-wheelers in the summer. He loves classic cars, woodworking and camping.