The Safety Debris Podcast with Tanya Steele and Richard Dulong

E53: From Football Fields to Safety Files: Wes Rundle on Resilience, Risk, and Why It's Okay to Suck

What do a torn ACL, parkour on rooftops, years of stunt standby work in the film industry, and a brand new white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu all have in common? They're all part of the wildly varied, genuinely unscripted life of Episode 53 guest Wes Rundle claims manager, NCSO, safety professional, and living proof that the best continuity plan is sometimes the one you never saw coming. At one point in this conversation, Wes drops something that lands harder than any tackle: that being truly humbled by something, getting flat-out beat by a brown belt, flailing on a gymnastics floor, not knowing how to ground your legs at your first football practice is actually exactly where the magic happens. He's also got a real beef with the title "safety officer," and his reasoning might make you rethink the business card in your wallet. Raised by his dad, shaped by discipline, Kendrick Lamar, and Van Morrison on vinyl. Wes Rundle is the kind of safety geek Safety Debris was absolutely made for. Tune in now!

E52: 6 Continents, 40 Years & a Wake-Up Call: Roger Bresden on Safety Leadership That Actually Saves Lives

What does it take to reduce injury rates by 75% across 80,000 people in one of the world's most dangerous industries and what happens when the system still fails and people die? Roger Bresden has been there. The CEO of BBI International joins Tanya and Richard with 40 years of hard-won experience spanning six continents, a decade at Saudi Aramco, 21 power plants across North America, and three companies he built from the ground up including what might be the world's first handheld safety auditing tool, built on a Palm Pilot and sold to Goldman Sachs. At one point in this conversation, Roger reveals something that stops you cold: most new leaders step into their roles with only 12 to 18 percent of the competencies they actually need and almost no one is talking about the other 88%. From blaming cultures to blame-free investigation processes, from the psychology of safety across wildly different global cultures to a custom Belgian guitar with alligator-skin detail, Roger Brezden is exactly the kind of safety geek Safety Debris was made for.

E51: "Safety First" Is a Lie - Fernando De Melo on the Myth That's Killing Safety Culture

In this episode of Safety Debris, our special guest Fernando De Melo grew up learning risk management the hard way, starting with the risk of letting his dad pick where the family lived, but what he discovered three decades into a career in health and safety is something most people in the industry don't want to admit: "Safety First" might be the most dishonest slogan in the business. At one point in this conversation, Fernando drops a truth that reframes the entire compliance-versus-culture debate, and it has everything to do with what it actually means to show up to work as a whole person. From getting quietly ostracized on construction sites to unlocking trust with a few memorized Portuguese phrases, Fernando's journey from compliance cop to human-first consultant is equal parts funny, real, and genuinely thought-provoking, and yes, there's a cinder block emergency exit plan involved. Tune in now! You don’t want to miss this!

E50: No Accident - From Rock Bottom to Workplace Champion with Jeremy Gauthier

What happens when a tire shop manager loses everything to addiction, his girlfriend, house, dog, car, then loses a 19-year-old worker to a preventable workplace fatality? In this raw and revelatory episode, Jeremy Gauthier shares how his best friend literally picked him up and carried him to recovery, and how tragedy became the pivot point that transformed him into a keynote speaker who's now journaled gratitude for 569 consecutive days. You'll discover why he believes 97% of workplace "accidents" aren't accidents at all, the simple 5-minute daily practice that changed his life more than quitting cocaine, and how he brings humor and heart to the heaviest topics in safety and mental health. Whether you're struggling with your own demons, leading a team that needs real talk about accountability, or just curious how someone turns their worst moments into their greatest mission, this conversation hits different. Fair warning: Jeremy's story goes deep, but his approach complete with Pokemon Go confessions and journal roulette proves that healing doesn't have to be heavy-handed to be powerful. Grab your headphones, this one's worth the full listen.

E49: From Stage Manager to Safety Champion: Jenece Stinson's Journey to Making Work Safer

From recording engineer and stage manager to safety procedure powerhouse, Jenece Stinson's career path is anything but ordinary. In this episode, Jenece shares how saying "yes" to an opportunity others turned down changed everything, why the best procedure writers are often those who've never done the job themselves, and the wild story of how her team created an entirely new helicopter hoisting method over open ocean in just one week. She also opens up about the workplace fatality that gave her career a deeper purpose and reveals her secret to gaining trust with field workers who've "been doing it this way for 30 years." Whether you're writing your first safety procedure or leading a training department, Jenece's motto "feel the fear and do it anyway" just might change how you approach your next challenge. Tune in now!