Citation

Grusenmeyer C. Safety Sci. 2022; 153: e105801.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105801

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Maintenance activities expose operators involved to multiple risks. These activities are also very largely outsourced. Yet, relationships between maintenance outsourcing and health and safety are still poorly documented and real outsourced maintenance operations have only rarely been observed. The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge of this area and understand the so-called disorganization phenomena of Quinlan et al. by examining in-situ outsourcing strategies and identifying and analyzing such disorganization situations. To this end, a case study was conducted in a glass manufacturing company, which partially outsources its equipment maintenance.

RESULTS from interviews and data triangulation (observations and verbalizations) related to outsourced maintenance operations highlight that this company used a relatively large network of maintenance contractors. Qualitative analyses of four situations, during which a disorganization phenomenon could be identified, reveal various contributing factors and expose the implications for both the working conditions and the health and safety of different players. These findings are specifically discussed in relation to reticular corporate organizations. They prompt a number of suggestions for occupational risk prevention.

Language: en

Keywords

Disorganization; Health and safety; Maintenance activities; Outsourcing; Reticular work organization