Introduction
Norwegian salmon fish farming companies rely on contractors and suppliers in their production, including crew on specialized vessels such as well boats, slaughter vessels and service vessels. Research indicates that conditions related to interorganizational interaction, such as work pressure and efficiency demands related to economic considerations, can impact personnel safety negatively (Kongsvik et al. 2025) , but more knowledge is needed. The interview study presented therefore explores the topic of cooperation and personnel safety further.
Material and methods
An interview study is being conducted in the period February – august 2025 . It includes 15 employees (OHS-personnel at salmon farming companies and contractors , fish farm workers and vessel crew members) who work in companies of different sizes and geographical locations along the Norwegian coast.
An interview guide, which targets risk factors , challenges related to cooperation and collaboration among different actors and possible improvements that can reduce risk for personnel is used.
Results
Results from the intervie w study will be presented. Key topics include the different types of collaboration agreements between contractors and fish farming companies and how they may impact safety (long term agreements, spot market etc.), prominent risk factors for personnel in operations, how procedures are designed and harmonized between companies, how new types of technologies influence work task and operations (e.g. submerged fish farms ), how cooperation operations are planned, performed and evaluate d. Furthermore, regulations that influence safety as well as training employees and crew members will be discussed. Based on these results, some suggestions for measures and improvements are given.
Conclusion
The study provides knowledge about challenges related to interorganizational interaction in salmon farming and suggestions that can improve risk management and cooperation between organizations moving forward. Re sults are discussed and communicated to the industry as part of the project.
Literature
Kongsvik, T, Størkersen, K, Thorvaldsen , T. Holen, S. ( 2025): Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Work Safety for Contractors in Norwegian Fish Farming, Journal of Agromedicine.