In his late-teens, McColl started his career in the logging industry where he worked for five years before moving into the construction industry in Northern Alberta.

After working in Northern Alberta for a decade, McColl was almost killed in a workplace accident where a fatality was involved. After the accident, he remained in the construction industry and achieved his National Construction Safety Officer designation.

He then shifted to working in the oil sands industry as a National Construction Safety Officer. For the last seven years McColl has worked as a safety trainer directing his efforts to making the forestry and construction industry a safer place for workers.