Safety climate and compliance in the Norwegian aquaculture industry - employees’ perceptions at different company levels

The aquaculture industry is economically important in Norway, and the production is expected to increase in the future. Employees at the fish farms face a high risk of accidents compared to employees in other industries and the focus on safety from both industry and researchers has increased during the last decade. Adding to the knowledge on safety in aquaculture, the objective of this paper is to study employees’ perception of safety climate, and whether aspects related to safety climate may predict employees’ compliance. Findings from two surveys aimed at managers and employees in different companies are analysed. The first is a telephone survey targeting employees and managers at the fish farms. The second is a web-based survey involving the onshore management level. The results show that employees at all levels have a positive perception of the safety climate, but they also illustrate challenges related to work pressure, maintenance and employee participation. Furthermore, the analysis shows that work pressure affects compliance negatively while participation and competence have positive associations with compliance. These results give input to some practical measures for safety management in the industry.