Although there is a large body of literature on subcontracting, its issues within so-called high-risk organizations (HROs) have been subject to very few empirical studies. However, it is not unusual to see subcontracting blamed for industrial or rail disasters such as AZF, Lubrizol and Brétigny-sur-Orge. Subcontracting issues are all the more critical in HROs as they involve their responsibility for maintaining plant reliability (Bourrier, 2009). Monitored by external regulatory bodies, they are bound by regulations to monitor and report on subcontracted activities, under pain of penalty. Maintenance activities, which have been widely subcontracted since the 1980s but are essential to maintaining the reliability and safety of plants, are subject to sustained vigilance involving both contractor and subcontractors to ensure the compliance of the operations to be carried out and the preservation of the related skills.
Whilst the literature on inter-organizational control has flagged up different control methods and emphasized their impact on skills, very few empirical studies have provided in-depth analysis. In addition, under the combined effects of the economic crisis, encouragement to preserve production equipment and the increasingly complex nature of socio-technical systems and high-risk activities, the maintenance of industrial facilities takes on a whole new importance. This is the conclusion we have drawn from an in-depth case study on changes to management methods in a high-risk industry which shows, amongst other things, their impact on maintenance skills (Masson, 2019)…