Organizational safety and adaptive work practices in aquaculture

The aquaculture industry is marked by considerable operational variability stemming from shifting environmental conditions, biological processes, and complex work activities. While prior research has focused primarily on technical safety, fish welfare, and formal safety management, less attention has been paid to how workers manage variability in everyday practice. This qualitative single-case study examines organizational variability in a Norwegian salmon-farming company by addressing two research questions: (1) How do aquaculture workers manage variability in their daily safety practices? and (2) How do local work practices influence organizational safety? The empirical material comprises documents and nine semi-structured interviews with operational and managerial personnel. The analysis draws on both safety theories and organizational learning perspectives. The findings show that workers manage variability through adaptive work practices grounded in practical experience, teamwork, and continuous adjustment to changing environmental and operational conditions, rather than through strict adherence to formal procedures. Local work practices influence organizational safety by creating and sustaining safety knowledge within stable communities of practice, where newcomers gradually develop the competence and judgment needed to work safely. Although formal safety management systems provide an important framework, their effectiveness depends on how well they are integrated with everyday operational practice. Rapid organizational growth challenges existing learning processes by making practical safety knowledge harder to transfer and sustain. The findings demonstrate that organizational safety is achieved not only through formal safety management systems but also through adaptive work practices and the social processes that enable workers to manage operational variability.