SUCCESS STORIES
Dan Weaklend
Senior Officer of Safety, Quality, & Operations Support
As a code-compliance officer for the government, Dan Weaklend evaluated a myriad of contractors and saw firsthand NPL’s commitment to safety – he liked and was impressed by what he saw, and didn’t hesitate to join the company roughly 10 years ago.
“NPL had (and still maintains) an excellent reputation,” he says, adding that “NPL was the only place I would consider working because of the safety and quality they maintained in their work.”
During Dan’s tenure, NPL has done more than “maintain” a solid reputation. All incident and accident rates have steadily decreased and are well below industry average.
As his boss puts it, “Dan’s the best in the industry at what he does.” Dan adds, “I just know what I need to do. From there, it’s a simple matter of doing right.”
“Doing right” is a reflection of NPL’s culture. As Dan says, “NPL practices its Core Values and it shows.” And that, he adds, “is not as common in business as it should be.”
Regarding his success, Dan sees two sources: hard work and family. “I’ve worked extremely hard all my life in order to be better than the next guy.” Crediting his family’s support, he adds, “The love and support of my wife and kids has really been a blessing . . . overall they’ve provided the type of environment where I could be successful.”
And “family” is what defines NPL, he says. “We’re family-oriented, and very people-oriented. Basically, NPL consists of 3,000 employees trying to take care of their families, and NPL encourages that.”
Regarding new employees, Dan’s best advice is that, “It’s okay not to know, but it’s not okay not to ask.”
Plus, “As an employee who wants to be successful, it’s necessary to make a decision: ‘I want to be a part of the solution, not the problem.’
“In a practical application, the way to do that is to bring all problems into the open as soon as you see them.
“At NPL, the work isn’t done by individuals,” he explains. “It’s a team effort and problems that arise are a part of the work we do. As a team, problems can be solved most efficiently.”