Development of a new index for occupational health inspections using the multi-criteria decision-making methods AHP and TOPSIS

BackgroundOccupational health inspections are an important component of health and safety management systems.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop a new index for occupational health inspections.MethodsA total of 40 ooccupational health inspectors took part in this study as a team of experts. Effective criteria and their sub-criteria in occupational health inspections were identified using the Delphi method and their weighting was determined by pairwise comparison using the AHP method to create a new inspection index. Finally, the inspections carried out by the inspectors were evaluated using the inspection index developed using the TOPSIS method.ResultsFor the first time, an occupational health inspection index with 10 criteria and 58 sub-criteria was developed in Iran. The type of work, the follow-up of inspections and their risk level were the most effective criteria for the inspection index with the weight of 0.119638, 0.115365 and 0.102246, respectively.ConclusionsIn this study, a new index for evaluating the occupational health inspections was developed, which can contribute to the development of an appropriate framework in the occupational health inspection process. Further research is needed to examine the applicability of this index.