The Impact of Resilience Engineering on Safety Performance in the Industry 4.0 Context

• New model is proposed to explain the relationship between safety management methods • Safety management practices have a direct influence on safety performance • Resilience engineering practices have a direct influence on safety performance • Resilience engineering practices have indirect influence on safety performance • Resilience engineering practices complement safety management practices. The rapid technological advancement culminating in Industry 4.0 has increased connectivity, coupling, and dynamism in already complex workplaces. These transformations introduced new and emerging risks that current safety management methods may fall short in addressing. A partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis is carried out to test the significance of the relationships among safety management practices, resilience engineering practices and safety performance in the Industry 4.0 context based on a proposed model. The results show that safety management practices have a positive and direct influence on resilience engineering and safety performance in I4.0 workplaces. Traditional safety management practices provide organisations with a solid procedural and structural safety foundation, which is complemented by adaptive, monitoring-based, and performance-oriented resilience practices suitable for the I4.0 context. The major contribution of this study is the proposed model that elucidates the roles of traditional safety management practices and resilience engineering practices in managing new and emerging risks in I4.0 workplaces. This contribution helps safety practitioners, designers, and policymakers develop appropriate tools that address cognitive, social, and organisational mechanisms underlying adaptive behaviour in the I4.0 context. Future research using longitudinal and/or mixed-methods studies is needed to assess deviations and long-term consequences resulting from the implementation of new technology. These studies will enable safety practitioners, designers, and policymakers to develop appropriate tools that address cognitive, social, and organisational mechanisms underlying adaptive behaviour in the Industry 4.0 context.