Mining industry approaches to risk and responsibility: managing safety in outsourced environments

Abstract The mining industry remains a high-risk sector where safety management is increasingly complicated by outsourcing and multi-employer arrangements. This paper explores how formal safety management is organized and practiced across company boundaries in the Swedish mining industry. Drawing on qualitative data from a research project focusing on workshops, company meetings, and industry-level discussions, the study examines how client companies, contractors, and the national trade association have sought to address safety-related challenges arising in contractor-dominated worksites. Findings reveal that outsourcing has introduced fragmentation, unclear responsibilities, and coordination difficulties, often exacerbated by asymmetrical power relations between clients and contractors. In response, companies and the industry association have implemented formal measures aimed at clarifying legal duties, codifying routines, and supporting key boundary-spanning roles, such as operative coordinators. While these efforts strengthen procedural clarity and accountability, the study also cautions that formalization may inadvertently increase inter-organizational distance and reduce trust, particularly when monitoring overshadows collaboration. The paper contributes to the literature on occupational health and safety management by showing how regulatory intent and operational practice diverge in complex organizational environments. It highlights the tensions between formal control and practical cooperation in outsourced safety management, suggesting that effective coordination requires more than legal clarity alone. The findings are particularly relevant for practitioners, regulators, and researchers concerned with contractor safety, coordination, and the institutional foundations of responsibility in multi-employer settings.