Improving the Performance in Occupational Health and Safety Management in the Electric Sector: An Integrated Methodology Using Fuzzy Multicriteria Approach

The electric sector is fundamental for the economic and social development of society, impacting on essential aspects such as health, education, employment generation, industrial production, and the provision of various services. In addition to the above, the growing trend in energy consumption worldwide could increase, according to expert estimates, up to 40% by 2030, which in turn increases the efforts of the public and private sector to meet increasing demands and increase access to energy services under requirements of reliability and quality. However, the electricity sector presents challenges and complexities, one of which is the reduction of health and safety risks for workers, service users, and other stakeholders. In many countries, this sector is classified as high risk in occupational safety and health, due to its complexity and the impact of accidents and occupational diseases on the health of workers, in infrastructure, in operating costs and competitiveness of the energy sector. Worldwide, there are rigorous regulations for the electricity sector, from local and national government regulations to international standards to guarantee health and safety conditions. However, it is necessary to develop objective and comprehensive methodologies for evaluating occupational safety and health performance that provides solutions for the electricity sector, not only to comply with standards and regulations also as a continuous improvement tool that supports the decision-making processes given the complexity of the industry and the multiple criteria that are taken into account when evaluating and establishing improvement strategies. In scientific literature, different studies focus on the analysis of accident statistics, the factors that affect accidents and occupational diseases, and the risk assessment of the sector. Despite these considerations, studies that focus directly on the development of hybrid methodologies for the evaluation and improvement of performance in occupational safety and health in the electrical sector, under multiple criteria and uncertainty are mostly limited. Therefore, this document presents an integrated methodology for improving the performance in occupational health and safety in the electric sector through the application of two techniques of Multi-criteria Decision Methods (MCDM) uses in environments under uncertainly. First, the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is applied to estimate the initial relative weights of criteria and sub-criteria. The fuzzy set theory is incorporated to represent the uncertainty of decision-makers’ preferences. Then, the Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) used for evaluating the interrelations and feedback among criteria and sub-criteria. FAHP and DEMATEL are later combined for calculating the final criteria and sub-criteria weights under vagueness and interdependence. Subsequently, we applied the proposed methodology in a company of the energy sector for diagnosis of performance in OHS to establish improvement proposals, the work path, and implementation costs. Finally, we evaluate the impact of the strategies applied in the improvement of the performance of the company

Risk Prioritization in a Natural Gas Compressor Station Construction Project Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

Recently, the seamless construction and operation of natural gas pipelines has become even more critical, while the oil and gas industry’s capability to operate effectively with acceptable risks and hazardous situations is mainly dependent on safety. As a result, it is very important to have a wide knowledge of effective management tactics for enhancing implementation of safety regulations and procedures. The problem of assuring workers’ health and safety in the workplace is a crucial component in the endeavor to raise the productivity of labor and the level of competitiveness of building projects. To promote the health, safety, and well-being of workers, issues that are embedded within the concept of sustainability, we propose in this study a safety risk-assessment process that uses the analytical hierarchy process for assigning priorities to risks on construction worksites. This process uses a popular multicriteria method. The success of this strategy was shown by its application to the building of a natural gas compressor plant in Greece. The main contribution of this study is the application of a well-known multicriteria method for assessing risks in a natural gas compressor station construction project and prioritizing hazards to allocate budget for risk-mitigation measures

A Joint Stochastic/Deterministic Process with Multi-Objective Decision Making Risk-Assessment Framework for Sustainable Constructions Engineering Projects—A Case Study

This study, on the one hand, develops a newfangled risk assessment and analysis (RAA) methodological approach (the MCDM-STO/DET one) for sustainable engineering projects by the amalgamation of a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) process with the joint-collaboration of a deterministic (DET) and a stochastic (STO) process. On the other hand, proceeds to the application of MCDM-STO/DET at the workplaces of the Greek construction sector and also of the fixed-telecommunications technical projects of OTE SA (that is, the Greek Telecommunications Organization S.A.) by means of real accident data coming from two official State databases, namely of “SEPE” (Labor Inspectorate, Hellenic Ministry of Employment) and of “IKA” (Social Insurance Institution, Hellenic Ministry of Health), all the way through the period of the years2009–2016.Consequently, the article’s objectives are the following: (i) The implementation and execution of the joint MCDM-STO/DET framework, and (ii) to make known that the proposed MCDM-STO/DET algorithm can be a precious method for safety managers (and/or decision-makers) to ameliorate occupational safety and health (OSH) and to endorse the sustainable operation of technical or engineering projects as well. Mainly, we mingle two different configurations of the MCDM method, initially the Analytical Hierarchy-Process (the typical-AHP), and afterwards the Fuzzy-Extended AHP (the FEAHP) one, along with the Proportional Risk Assessment Technique (PRAT) and the analysis of Time-Series Processes (TSP), and finally with the Fault-Tree Analysis (FTA)

Androgen receptor status in lesional and normal skin of patients with rosacea

WOS: 000224839500025PubMed: 15482312