Working from work

Working from work.

On March 19, Akin Oke kissed and hugged his wife, Abiola, his six-year-old twin boys Elias, and Micah, and his 14-month old daughter, Toluwani, goodbye and headed to Bush International Airport in Houston. Bush was the launching point on the first leg of a long journey that would terminate 6,500 miles later when a helicopter carrying Akin and his teammates set down on the Agbami Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform, located 220 miles south-east of Lagos and 70 miles offshore Nigeria.

Akin was on his way to begin a 28-day rotation as a power and control systems supervisor on the platform just as the U.S. was entering Phase 4 of the global pandemic where countries were taking drastic measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Borders were beginning to close.

Before Akin boarded the flight, he was fairly certain that once he landed in Lagos, the borders would close shortly thereafter. He would not be able to leave the country as scheduled and his 28-day rotation would be extended.

On March 18, Fariza Zhakmetova, TCO designs engineering KTL Plant Support supervisor, arrived in Tengiz (Kazakhstan) for her rotation. She had left her husband Nurzhan and their four-year-old son, Ibrahim, in their hometown of Almaty 2,600 km away. Shortly afterwards, Fariza was notified that Kazakhstan was in a state of emergency and the window to leave Tengiz was a few days from closing. If she did not leave Tengiz within the next few days, she would go into quarantine for 14 days before beginning her rotation, which would extend indefinitely.   

Akin and Fariza discussed their predicaments with their families. It was their family’s understanding and support that allowed them to make these tough decisions. Fariza remained in Tengiz as part of the essential work team to sustain operations as the travel window closed. Akin boarded the flight, and sure enough, Nigeria closed its borders on March 23.

I swear, if I hear the term “unprecedented times” one more time I’m going to shave my head. But that’s what we’re in, unprecedented times. Right now, thousands of us, approximately 75% of our workforce, are working —or trying to work—from home. Confined there, many of us are confronting our understandable feelings of isolation and being alone. Others are homeschooling children or infringing upon housemates’ normal routines, while trying to create a sense of normality and balancing work. We worry about our futures, and the health of our loved ones and friends. These are indeed unprecedented times. 

As challenging as it is for the 75% of us working from home, what about those employees in essential roles working from work?

When Akin arrived in Lagos, he too was immediately put into quarantine for 14 days. Assigned to a four-bedroom house with one other rotator, they were expected to stay within the premises for the duration. Food was delivered to his home. “Overall, my experience was positive, and the service provided was fantastic.” Akin said.

Akin’s reaction? “14 days may sound like a long time, but it was needed to ensure the safety of everyone at the FPSO”. What Akin and Fariza have in common – besides being incredible humans – is an astonishingly positive attitude. Keep in mind, they work every day. 12-hour shifts. Seven days a week. That’s what rotators do. Even if they aren’t rotating. They both talked about starting every morning by checking on their team’s mental health and reminding them to maintain good personal hygiene. Like Akin and Fariza, their teams are going on three months in these very trying conditions.

For those that work in the field and return home at the end of each day, there is and added concern on their minds - maintaining proper hygiene, not just for themselves, but so as not to expose their families. Many employees in essential roles return home every day with that burden weighing on their minds. Jacob Horton, Field Specialist MCBU, maintains a routine not too dissimilar from the one he had before the outbreak, with one exception. His family is staying in a different city with extended family. He’s not rotating, but he is dealing with distance too. He makes daily facetime on his phone with his wife Amanda and children Aydia age 11, Alyza age 4, and Arthur the two-year old, count.

Akin, Fariza, and Jacob all talked about leveraging Webex and/or Microsoft Teams and how these are tools they will use after the crises for more effective and efficient communications.

It’s not just upstream that is working from work. On the same day Fariza arrived in Tengiz, the Malaysian government closed the borders with Singapore to curb the transmission of COVID-19. Knowing the border closing was on the horizon, over 100 Malaysian colleagues from the Singapore Caltex Retail Team decided to leave their families and cross the border to Singapore where their jobs were. They did not prepare alone. Chris Lam, Corporate Affairs Advisor, Singapore shares the lengths their Singapore Colleagues went to, to support them in a Workplace post here in the group Chevron Together.

At a time when our natural instincts cause us to retrench and look after ourselves, I continue to be moved by the actions Chevron colleagues are taking to help each other. That’s what #chevrontogether is all about.

Chevron will continue to produce and deliver the hydrocarbons we need to push through this pandemic. Not just for transportation fuel, and power generation - those things we think of first - but to also to do things like create the protective “armor” that first-responders depend on to keep them safe and healthy on the front lines - gloves, gowns, masks, face shields, medical supplies and equipment.

These are products and byproducts of the hydrocarbons that we produce. Our people on ships, rigs, refineries, and plants are making sacrifices daily to ensure that we will continue to be a healthy, going concern when this is over. People like Akin, Fariza, Jacob and our Malaysian colleagues represent the people that do that.

To face the challenges brought on by COVID 19, some workers in essential roles have families at home from which they draw support. While others summon their own inner strength.

I’m working from home, but I have an extra level of gratitude for those “working from work.” They’re all in.

And when everyone’s in, everyone wins.

#chevrontogether