Do increasing degrees of operational complexity and supply chain complexity negatively impact occupational injuries? Yes, according to a new study.
This study posted soon explored the links using US data, and how absolute level of complexity and changes in the level of complexity exert a negative effect on a company’s safety performance.
They differentiated between endogenous complexity (emanating from a company’s own operations, e.g. operational complexity) and exogenous complexity (emanating from the environment or market).
They found:
· Accidents, as a form of disruption “are strongly affected by multiple forms of complexity that are detached from the immediate operations of a firm”
· The link between complexity and injuries aren’t limited to the internal operational complexity, but influenced by exogenous factors, like markets
· Hence, their research “conceptually and empirically [confirms] that supply chain and market complexity have negative implications for occupational safety
· Changes that increase the amount of complexity “lead to an increase in the number of occupational injuries but, conversely, that decreasing the level of complexity does not significantly reduce injuries”
· the “core takeaway from this research is that increased complexity, regardless of whether that complexity is exogenous (e.g. supply chain or market complexity) to a company’s own operations, is bound to create spillovers in the form of harder-to-coordinate chains and more disruptions, including accidents”.
Authors: Chen, Y., Wiengarten, F., Fan, D., & Pagell, M. (2024). Complexity and Change: Antecedents of occupational injuries. Safety Science, 176, 106560.
Study link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106560
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Safety & Performance Research Summaries 
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