At work for those who are building the country

With over 9,500 beds in 45 camps, from Mandal in the south to Hammerfest in the north, 4Service is a key supporter of Norwegian industry.

“In many ways, we run a large hotel company”, says Inge Kolstad, division director at Camps.

Inge and his colleagues have one primary task, namely to ensure that the clients' workers, who live away from their homes, receive the best possible welfare services. If they feel good outside their working hours, they will also perform better when they are at work.

“It is obvious that cleaning, supervision and service should be of the highest quality. Our camps also have common areas, 24-hour canteens with hot and cold dishes and various welfare services.”

For those who live in camps and work long days in the industry, it is important to feel at home when they take off their work boots and put on their slippers. Vibeke Ragnvaldjord, regional manager, explains:

“We recently opened a camp for Veidekke in Drammen. The feedback we received was "the camp finally opened, so we don’t have to stay in a hotel!". Naturally, this is a mark of success for all of us!”

A camp usually consists of 1-25 modular units with 44 single rooms of approx. 9 m2, all with private bathroom and good internet. In addition, all camps have a canteen unit, where there is access to food almost around the clock. The largest camp in 2020 was for Kværner at Stord, which had 1,300 beds. But it’s not just that there are many beds, Camps also employs about 6,000 hens, who last year produced 1,797,280 eggs.

“Healthy and varied food is important for our guests. In addition to the eggs, we also delivered 724,427 kilos of fruit and vegetables in 2020”, says Ragnvaldjord.

2020 was a challenging year for many industries, and 4Service Camps was no exception.

“Things looked very gloomy in March. The restrictions imposed by the authorities were both numerous and challenging. The so-called buffet ban in particular had a big impact on the camps”, says Kolstad.

In a few hours, 4Service changed its offer. More people were brought in and individual packing of food, serving of portions of hot food and new routines for washing became even more important. In order to find good solutions that worked in practice, the collaboration with each individual client was crucial.

“In collaboration with the customers, we quickly found good solutions to most of the challenges. New procedures were introduced for the serving of food, and we found flexible and risk-free quarantine solutions. The handling, flexibility and work ethic of our employees out at the camps has been fantastic” Kolstad explains, and adds:

“We chose to maintain the buffet ban throughout 2020 for reasons of infection control. This is despite the fact that the authorities opened up for buffet service again during the summer.”

Despite the fact that Camps had to make major changes, it did not lead to cancellations of projects or contracts. Even during a pandemic, roads must be paved, schools built and infrastructure maintained.

“Our assignments will usually still be carried out, almost regardless of what is happening in the rest of the world. It was even more important for us to find solutions that enabled the work to continue without major delays, while at the same time maintaining both infection control and safety for everyone.”