Kim Altom
Director, Operations Risk Management
dss+
The Leadership Dilemma: Building Trust While Conquering Production and Time Pressures
Co-presented with Steven Luttrull
Frontline leaders are expected to coach for risk reduction and exposure control, yet the environments they operate in often make this expectation difficult to fulfill. In fast paced, high-pressure settings shaped by production demands, union dynamics, and limited coaching skills, safety conversations frequently become rushed, transactional, and ineffective. This presentation uses the scenario—Caught in the Middle—to illuminate the hidden forces influencing everyday decisions, including normalized risk, time pressure, system misalignment, and the human tension between leadership, safety, and productivity.
Through an immersive experience and guided discussion, participants will examine why well-intentioned leaders default to quick reminders instead of meaningful coaching, why workers depend on learned shortcuts to keep pace, and why safety professionals often observe risks they cannot directly influence. The session reframes these challenges as system problems rather than individual shortcomings and highlights practical, scalable solutions such as risk based coaching tools, and digital platforms that safeguard time for high quality leadership engagement.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of what happens in frontline safety conversations, why risk persists even when expectations are clear, and how organizations can enable leaders to build the skills, confidence, and time needed for consistent, effective safety coaching. This session offers a path from insight to action.
Kim has over 25 years of professional experience in Safety & Occupational Health at top-ranked global consulting firms support clients in technology, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas and general industry. Kim has proven leadership skill set in building high-performance, cross-functional global teams which best support our clients’ goals to protect people, the environment, and assets – leveraging digital innovation to accelerate deeper data driven decision making is central to her approach. Kim has led work across functions and with clients across North & South America, Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.