Who's Taking Care of the Safety Pro?

On this episode of Processing Safety with Trish and Traci, General Atomics safety engineer Valerie Stakes returns to discuss well-being in the safety profession, building on her 2026 ASSP conference session. She, Trish Kerin and Traci Purdum explore why safety professionals — often wired to please and fix — struggle to set boundaries and how compassion fatigue, unappreciated efforts and repeated exposure to injuries and fatalities take a cumulative toll. They share personal stories of burnout, offer tips on debriefing, networking and using employee assistance programs and close with a guided breathing exercise. The episode also answers a listener’s question on the role of training in operations and emergency response.