Carol Theodore Hubbard: 1954 – 2017.

When Carol Hubbard retired recently he concluded a 33 year career that was longer than any other Cactus employee. So long, in fact, that he didn’t even begin with Cactus.

 “When Carol started his career he was a roughneck with Pilgrim Drilling Company,” said wife Kay. “I’m not sure when the name changed to Cactus, but when Carol started working as a hot shot driver in the yard at El Reno it was still Pilgrim.”

 The move from roughneck to hot shot driver was a pivotal one for Carol. He would continue in that capacity for the rest of his career, building a reputation as the most dependable hot shot driver a company could hope to have.

 “He loved his job,” said Kay. “So much that he almost never missed a day of work. The only time he ever missed was when he cut his leg on a fork lift and got a staph infection. He was in the hospital for a few weeks and I had to make him stay home. He would never take his whole vacation and he often worked Saturdays.”

 The fork lift incident was Carol’s only injury in 33 years on the job. He did manage to avoid injury when he got knocked out of the derrick early in his career.

 “He caught the lead tong line and held on until the driller, Lonnie Keehee, could rescue him,” said Kay. “I have never seen Lonnie move so fast in his life.”

 Kay should know something about Carol’s career. After all, the two spent virtually their entire lives together having met playing tether ball in a field next to her house in Chickasha, Oklahoma. She was 12, he was 14. She went home and told her mother that she had just met the man she was going to marry. Five years later they were married in the Salvation Army Church in Chickasha, a union that would span 44 years.

 Kay was not the only one to notice Carol’s commitment to his job. It was evident to anyone who worked around him.

 “Carol was always in a hurry,” said Andrew Hutchcroft, Yard Foreman. “He would start honking when he entered the yard, yelling at people to get him unloaded so he could make another run. We would mess with him sometimes just to slow him down. But we learned a lot from him. You don’t find people as motivated as he was.”

 “He was a sparkplug,” said David Ross, Cactus’ Inventory/Trucking Coordinator. “He would keep us positive, upbeat and motivated to work.”

 But Carol had a thoughtful side and he was concerned about the people he worked with. That was evident in the little things he did for them.

 “Carol always made sure we had coffee and water,” said Ross. “He really cared about us.”

“I chewed tobacco for a time,” said Hutchcroft. “He would make a spit cup for me each day. Who does that? He also shared his tools. I still have his carpet stretcher that I borrowed a few weeks ago.”

 Carol’s commitment to people and to his job showed in his work habits. He was never late, always the first one there and the last one to leave.

 “We were lucky to know him, especially getting to have lunch with him every day for the last several weeks,” said Hutchcroft, laughing as he remembered Carol’s usual diet of chicken strips and mashed potatoes. “We’re all going to miss him.”

Some people fit the description “jack of all trades.” That's a person who can do pretty much anything that needs to be done. Kenneth Casey, yard manager at Cactus’ yard in Odessa, Texas, would be one of those people.

Need a rig manager for a day? Kenneth’s your man. Need a hot shot driver to get a piece of equipment to the rig in a hurry? Call on Kenneth. Night watchman at the yard doesn’t show up? Well, you know who you’re going to call and it’s not ghostbusters.

"My job description is pretty simple,” said Casey. “Just do what you have to do to keep the rigs running, to keep downtime to a minimum.”

According to Casey, the most difficult part of the job is finding stuff that’s not in the yard, that can’t be fabricated or welded overnight. That’s why he has 2300 contacts in his phone. Some days he gets 100 calls before lunch.

“The welders here are great, they can make almost anything,” said Casey. “My job is to get them the parts they need, or to get those things they can’t make.”

Casey’s had what you would call an interesting career. He has tried his hand at well servicing, even spent some time as a dairy farmer, a skill which might come in handy if any Cactus rigs ever need milk.

“I’ve settled down now,” said Casey. “This is a great company, great people. I’m here until they run me off.”

The International Association of Drilling Contractors presented its Chairman’s Award to Kenny Baker, Cactus Drilling Superintendent, who continues to earn that award by telling others about the importance of having such shelters on their locations.

The original shelter was designed after a tornado hit a Texas location in 2009. Since most of the company's Oklahoma and Texas rigs were in the tornado belt, Cactus believed something should be done to address the potential hazard. With assistance from welders, fire departments, wind specialists and others, a design was developed utilizing what was currently on location to cost effectively protect Cactus employees without impeding operations. By 2010, all Cactus rigs north of I-20 had the "Safety Tie Downs" implemented during tornado season, a policy which was subsequently changed to cover all rigs all the time.

What followed was a lot of grumbling from toolpushers and superintendents about tornadoes never hitting rigs. Kenny Baker was Superintendent over Rig 117 during the tornado of May 2011 and didn't believe the shelters were necessary. Kenny went to his rig about 30 minutes after the tornado and the picture below is what he saw. But every one of his men walked out of the shelter that day without injury. That incident instilled a passion in Kenny which is evident when he talks about the shelter.

“I remember that two of the people in the shelter were a father and son-in-law,” said Baker. “The son-in-law and his wife had just adopted a baby girl. A lot of tragedy was averted for that family and for others that day because of that shelter.”

Other drilling contractors now have similar shelters, thanks to Baker’s efforts to spread the word. That is one of the reasons the IADC presented the award, which is given every five years to individuals who have made a direct impact on the industry.

“We have shelters, we have weather radios and we have a plan,” said Baker. “I try to tell people that you don’t have to have our plan, but you do need to have a plan.”

The IADC continues to spread the word and Cactus does, too. Hopefully all rigs working in tornado areas will take similar precautions.

“The shelter saved lives,” said Baker. “Telling the story saved a lot more.”

Improving Team Cohesiveness and Performance

Led by industry expert and licensed psychologist Dr. Roy Rhodes, the newly assembled crew of Rig 129 had the opportunity to learn techniques to work together more productively and be introduced to the culture of a new customer through a recent team building program. “We use these opportunities to communicate goals, objectives and expectations” says Kathy Willingham, Vice President of HR and HSE. “This forum allows the crew members to identify key objectives from our customer and establishes the groundwork for a successful drilling operation.”

Rhodes, an experienced facilitator, has worked in the oil and gas industry for decades, most notably for Noble Energy, where he spearheaded a recruiting program and safety leadership initiatives. (There is even an offshore platform named after him!) Direct and to the point, Rhodes led the crew members through organizational realities and discussed the challenges that a new rig and drill site can face. “We want to set these guys up for success,” says Rhodes. “We have the opportunity to tackle specific business issues and challenges based on the tools and strategies discussed during this team building process.”

Contractor of Choice

For Cactus, educating employees on proper safety procedures is paramount. We also take this a step further with the quality of management, technology, and safety performance to become the contractor of choice for our customers. Rig 129 is drilling near Kingfisher, Oklahoma for new customer Felix Energy. “This is our third drill site, and we chose Cactus because we felt like it was the right fit,” says Bill Arnold, Vice President of Operations. “We have a like-minded culture of safety and efficiency.” For us at Cactus, efficiency is key, working within our limits to ensure safety and achievement to routinely attract new customers and retain our current business relationships.

These sessions “are loaded with lessons about problem solving, communication, and having confidence and respect for the task.” says Josh Simons. And the members aren’t the only ones who benefit. “Team building activities give management a better idea of how to work with the crew members and communicate better with them.”

Returning to a Bottom Line Focus

Superintendent Red Garner, in charge of several rigs including Rig 129, believes these meetings really help focus the new crew: “I am glad we have these team building exercises to open communication and allow everyone from the rig floor to the customer to ask questions and get excited about the new job.” When communication is open and the goals are clear, there is a much higher potential of success, says Rhodes. When there is a new customer and team members are potentially working a different job than before, it is important to set our employees up for success and ultimately provide them with the best working conditions, resulting in a satisfied customer that keeps us in business.

 Successful team building activities have a real impact on the functionality of a rig’s performance. “When we shift our focus to team building and customer satisfaction, that adds real bottom line value,” says Rhodes. This framework, and the understanding that each potential roadblock can be addressed through communication and teamwork, opens up new possibilities for dramatically achieving our customer’s expectations and more.