Safety Director Makes Big Impact for Oklahoma Drilling Company

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In 2020, the Energy Information Administration listed Oklahoma as the fourth-largest producer of crude oil in the United States. Drilling companies have placed an increased emphasis on improving safety culture in recent years, including in Oklahoma. In Lamont, Dan D Drilling evaluated its safety program and strived to improve it. Actions taken towards this endeavor started with the hiring of Safety Director Billy Paul Fuller.

Fuller came to the Lamont-based drilling company with a strong safety and public service background. His 16 years of military service with the U.S. Navy and National Reserves, 22 years as a volunteer firefighter, and over 35 years of safety operations and training in the oil and gas industry have proven to be an asset for the company.

Founded in 1999, Dan D Drilling is a drilling contractor and currently maintains operations in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. In 2014, the company was seeking to improve its safety program and hired Fuller, an OSHA safety trainer and certified safety and health officer, to lead the initiative.

“The three main factors that control safety are people, equipment, and mother nature,” said Safety Director Fuller. Although he has no control over the last factor, Fuller’s impact on the transformation of Dan D Drilling’s safety program goes well beyond just the people and equipment. Believing that today’s advanced safety programs are only as good as the application of basic safety fundamentals, Fuller’s accomplishments at the company include:

  • Implementation of a 5-year training program 
  • Establishment of an onsite training center 
  • Restructured training to include the entire rig group 
  • Increased rig crew training hours 
  • 100% employee certification in CPR, First Aid, & AED training

Under his management, Dan D Drilling’s improved safety measures have put the company in compliance with all OSHA safety criteria and now meets or exceeds all federal and state requirements. The successful implementation of these safety measures has resulted in a 75% improvement on total recordable incident reports, or TRIR, from 2018 to 2019. “Fuller’s work ethic is second to none, and the impact he’s had on our company is invaluable,” said Dan D Drilling Director Robert Waggoner.

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