Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Houston, TX

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Several people told me that I needed to interview Paul Woodhall because of his longtime involvement in the oilfield diving industry and in the efforts to organize divers in the 1970s. I reached Paul in Baton Rouge and he agreed to be interviewed, but we had a hard time coordinating our schedules. In 2002, Paul took a job with BP and relocated from Louisiana to Houston. I finally caught up with him in Houston during the summer of 2003.

Paul Woodhall began diving in 1961 when he was serving in the U.S. military in Japan. He began scuba diving as a sport and ended up teaching classes while still in Japan. After his discharge from the service, he remained in Japan training divers. When he returned to the United States, he opted to go to a diving school rather than go back to college. Upon finishing diving school in California, Paul learned that companies working in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oilfields were hiring divers, so he packed his belongings and headed east. He arrived in Louisiana in 1964 and went right to work repairing damage from Hurricane Betsy. He worked as a freelance diver for several years and then took a job at J. Ray McDermott in 1967. He remained with the company until 1974. When his tender was killed in an accident offshore in 1969, Paul became involved in organizations that were working to increase safety in the diving industry. He helped organize a union for the Gulf of Mexico divers and was elected president. He stayed in that position several years until the union became inactive. He then worked as a consultant overseas for 6 and a half years. He returned to the U.S. and got involved in a couple of business ventures and consulting contracts before going to work for BP in 2002.