Introduction
Employees at Norwegian salmon fish farms and vessels are exposed to several workplace hazards and must handle many risks to ensure personal safety, safeguard fish health and welfare as well prevent escape of fish. This presentation provides findings from an OHS survey about employees’ perceptions of health, working environment and safety (1). The survey is part of the project "OHS in aquaculture – risk management in different production forms", financed by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (project 901801).
Material and methods
A digital survey was distributed in May-August 2023. It was an updated version of a previous survey (2 ) based on input from industry, trade organizations and regulatory representatives. 1283 respondents including fish farm workers, vessel crews and operative workers in the supplier industry participated.
Results
Analyses show that most participants consider their health to be good and enjoy their work. Still, many worry that their work may affect their health negatively now or in the future. Furthermore, 62 % have experienced near misses in the last two years, and 17 % have had work-related sickness absence due to illness or injury in the last year . The main causes for both worry and sickness absence are strain/musculoskeletal injuries and injuries.
Most agree that safety has priority when they do their job (86 %) . Still, there are challenges related to resources and organization of work. For instance, several of the respondents agree that considerations to production is prioritized at the expense of safety (29 %), that they feel pressured to continue working although safety can be compromised ( 22 %), that considerations regarding fish welfare and escape mean that safety routines cannot always be followed (22 %), and that inadequate maintenance has reduced the safety level (28 %). Moreover, 31 % agree that it is uncomfortable to point out lack of compliance to safety rules and procedures.
Conclusion
The survey provides information that should be utilized by companies in their risk management. E ngaging with the employees who are exposed to hazards, to ensure that their experiences and evaluations are included when measures are developed and prioritized is crucial .
Literature