Loss prevention in turnaround maintenance projects by selecting contractors based on safety criteria using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Continuous quality improvement project to reduce the downtime of medical linear accelerators: A case study at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital

Objective

To analyse and continually improve existing issues in the quality improvement process of medical linear accelerators (LINACs) and enhance the quality control management of LINACs.

Methods

Data were collected from eight LINACs (sourced from three manufacturers) at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital using Excel diaries between January 2019 and December 2020. The data description and analysis were performed using the analytic hierarchy process, SPSSAU and Excel software, and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR)/mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) metrics. Continuous quality improvement was executed using the quality control circle (QCC) quality management method.

Results

After quality improvement, the risk frequency of 'LINAC down' events decreased by 43.63% and downtime was reduced by 40.45%. The weight of downtime risk improved by 73.69%. The MTTR recovery value increased by 31.90%, and MTBF reliability increased by 2.97 h. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed quality improvement measures could effectively decrease the frequency and duration of downtimes, consequently extending the normal operational time of LINACs.

Conclusion

Transitioning from instant repair to preventative maintenance can enhance the operational efficiency of equipment and yield economic benefits for hospitals. The QCC method and the event risk evaluation model are effective in reducing the downtime of LINACs and improving their quality control management.

Bibliometric analysis of safety management system research (2001-2021)

INTRODUCTION

Occupational health and safety (OHS) has become an integral part of human society, particularly considering the growing rates of injuries and deaths worldwide. Hence, numerous employers, governments, and stakeholders worldwide have established critical OHS measures to safeguard human health and occupational safety. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify and highlight risks and hazards, as well as to detect, monitor, minimize, and prevent workplace injuries and deaths.

METHOD

This study presents the publication trends, research landscape, and scientific developments related to safety management systems (SMS) based on published documents from the Elsevier Scopus database. Published documents on SMS and indexed in Scopus are identified, screened, and analyzed to examine the publication trends, research developments, and scientific landscape. For this purpose, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), bibliometric analysis (B.A.), and systematic literature review (SLR) procedures are used. The results reveal that 799 related documents were published between 2001 and 2021.

RESULTS

The most productive stakeholders, that is, top researchers, affiliations, and countries, include Liesbeth Jacxsens, Universiteit Gent (Belgium), and the United States. This study shows that the availability of research grants, incentives, or awards is critical to the productivity of top researchers, institutions, and nations actively researching SMS topics. The bibliometric analysis reveals that the topic is characterized by high productivity, co-authorships, keyword occurrence, and citations.

CONCLUSION

The analysis shows that SMS research is a broad, multidimensional, and impactful area that has become essential for identifying, reducing, monitoring, and eliminating risks in many industries. It is concluded that the topic of the SMS remains relevant because of its impact on human health, occupational safety, and environmental well-being.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study provides in-depth insight into expanding the scope of SMS research. Moreover, research and policymakers can facilitate decision-making and collaboration based on this study's outtakes.

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the performance indicators of safety management using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in an electricity industry

Introduction

The importance of evaluating the performance of different management systems in industries necessitates examining the performance of the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) management system along with other management systems. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a greater need than ever to assess the impact of the COVID-19 spread on the performance of the HSE management system compared to before this pandemic. This research aims to investigate safety performance indicators (SPIs) on the performance of the HSE management system and the impact of the COVID-19 spread on these indicators.

Methods

This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 outbreak on the safety performance to revise the industry safety index in an electricity distribution company using the multi-criteria decision-making method before and after the disease epidemic in three stages. In the first part, the safety indicators were identified according to the comprehensive safety indicators available in the industries and experts' opinions. In the second part, safety indicators were ranked, weighted, and prioritized using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the third part, these indicators were calculated and compared in the periods before and after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Results

Two main criteria, namely the "effectiveness criterion" and the "applicability/calculation criterion", were identified for the evaluation and pairwise comparisons of performance indicators. Among these two criteria, the applicability/calculation criterion had higher priority and importance for the evaluation of indicators. Pairwise comparisons of the indicators indicated that the "accident frequency rate" and "safe T-factor" indicators (with weights of 0.238 and 0.023 respectively) had the highest and lowest priorities, respectively, for the assessment of organizational safety performance among the SPIs.

Conclusion

Based on the calculations of the indicators and their analyses before and after the outbreak of COVID-19, the current status of the safety performance of the HSE unit was not significantly affected by this pandemic. However, the investigations carried out while collecting the data needed to calculate the indicators and evaluate the performance of this unit demonstrated that some indicators were not considered sufficiently in the studied electricity industry. Since conducting regular performance evaluations greatly impacts the achievement of continuous improvement, more attention should be paid to compiled indicators, which should be periodically assessed in the organization to achieve continuous improvement.

A safety assessment model of filling mining based on comprehensive weighting-set pair analysis

Filling mining is the main mining method in coal mine, and its safety is the pillar of the overall safety of the mine. Filling mining can effectively protect the surface environment, better solve the problem of ground pressure, and maximize the recovery of underground resources. Therefore, this method has an irreplaceable role in deep mining of coal mines and is highly valued by the mining industry all around the world. In order to evaluate the implementation effect of filling mining, a comprehensive weighting-set pair analysis safety evaluation model is established. This model optimizes the subjectivity of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the objectivity of Entropy Weight Method (EWM) in traditional methods. Besides, we add experts' weight to Entropy Weight Method. The combination of the two methods makes the index weight more reasonable and effective, and can more fully reflect the difference and correlation of index. Firstly, the accident causation analysis and taxonomy (ACAT) is used to find out the accident causation factors of filling mining, and then, the AHP and EWM are used to determine the weight of each evaluation index from different perspectives. Then, the evaluation group is established to score the importance of each expert, so as to reduce the subjectivity of expert scoring. Finally, according to the principle of set pair analysis, the safety evaluation model of filling mining is applied to Yuxing Coal Mine in Inner Mongolia. The evaluation result shows that the safety grade of this mine is grade 1 "safety." This paper provides a new way and direction for the comprehensive evaluation of similar mining methods, the establishment of index system, the acquisition of index weights, and the evaluation of safety level, which has promotion and application value.

Analysis of maintenance outsourcing challenges for belt conveyors in the Industry 4.0 era

Purpose

There is an increasing trend of outsourcing maintenance activities of heavy equipment, including belt conveyor installations. However, there are numerous challenges in maintenance outsourcing. This paper aims to identify and analyze various challenges of outsourcing maintenance activities associated with belt conveyor installations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper identifies maintenance outsourcing challenges of belt conveyor installations through literature review, field visits and expert opinion. An integrated structural hierarchical framework of the identified challenges is developed through analytic hierarchy process and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory.

Findings

The paper has identified eight challenges, namely, attainment of organizational strength by contractors, legal and financial challenges for contractors, attainment of necessary technician skills by contractors, maintenance data acquisition and analysis challenges, facilitation with modern equipment, gadgets and instrumentation, service quality challenges, health, safety and environment-related challenges and spares supply chain management challenges. The segregation of driver and dependent challenges, including their hierarchical framework had been established in this work.

Research limitations/implications

A comprehensive list of challenges and their prioritization in maintenance outsourcing of belt conveyor installations had been established. This will help the organizations who own and operate these installations to make judicious decisions regarding outsourcing maintenance.

Originality/value

This paper significantly contributes to the literature on maintenance outsourcing of heavy machinery installations like a belt conveyor system based on the input of different stakeholders. This study will lead to the development of frameworks for maintenance contractor selection for such installations.

ISO 21500 and the Sustainability Focused ANP-BOCR Framework for Subcontractor Selection in Megaprojects

The aim of this article is to present a novel framework that integrates the strategic dimensions of sustainability and the ISO 21500 standard to evaluate and select subcontractors for megaprojects. ISO 21500 processes were utilized to develop benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks subnets, whereas triple-bottom line sustainability dimensions were used as strategic criteria. Subsequently, the Analytic Network Process was used to examine the proposed framework for the Qatar Rail megaproject. The proposed framework supports organizations dealing with megaprojects to align their subcontractor selection with ISO 21500 and achieve ecological and social objectives alongside the project’s stipulated economic benefits.

Fire Risk Assessment of Subway Stations Based on Combination Weighting of Game Theory and TOPSIS Method

With the rapid development of urban modernization, traffic congestion, travel delays, and other related inconveniences have become central features in people’s daily lives. The development of subway transit systems has alleviated some of these problems. However, numerous underground subway stations lack adequate fire safety protections, and this can cause rescue difficulties in the event of fire. Once the fire occurs, there will be huge property losses and casualties. In addition, this can have a vicious impact on sustainable development. Therefore, in order to make prevention in advance and implement targeted measures, we should quantify the risk and calculate the fire risk value. In this study, through consulting experts and analysis of data obtained from Changzhou Railway Company and the Emergency Management Bureau, the fire risk index system of subway stations was determined. We calculated the index weight by selecting the combination weighting method of game theory to eliminate the limitations and dependence of subjective and objective evaluation methods. The idea of relative closeness degree in TOPSIS method iwas introduced to calculate the risk value of each subway station. Finally, the subway station risk value model was established, and the risk values for each subway station were calculated and sorted. According to expert advice and the literature review, we divided the risk level into five levels, very high; high; moderate; low and very low. The results shown that 2 subway stations on Line 1 have very high fire risk, 2 subway stations on Line 1 have high fire risk, 2 subway stations on Line 1 have moderate fire risk, 8 subway stations on Line 1 have low fire risk, and 13 subway stations on Line 1 have very low fire risk. We hope that through this evaluation model method and the results to bring some references for local rail companies. Meanwhile, this evaluation model method also promotes resilience and sustainability in social development.

Ranking and comparing occupational health and safety system performance indicators in hospitals by the analytic hierarchy process

The main goal of this study was to identify whether changes and new applications were positively or negatively influencing safety performance among health-sector workers. The research is based on the opinion of 16 selected occupational health and safety (OHS) experts who evaluated five main groups of questions by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results were compared to the same questionnaire's results applied previously at three main hospitals in Bingöl, Turkey. The results presented are predictable, such as that of private hospitals having better control and pressure on applying the OHS system; experts gave higher priority to OHS training; and staff considered that working according to OHS criteria was the most important problem. Caring about others' safety and protecting one's own life, being knowledgeable about risks, having practical OHS training and cooperation are other important criteria according to the experts.

An Integrated Decision Support Model Based on BWM and Fuzzy-VIKOR Techniques for Contractor Selection in Construction Projects

Sustainable development of any country to some extent depends on successful accomplishment of construction projects, particularly infrastructures. Contractors have a key role in the success of these projects. Hence, the selection of a competent contractor as a complicated and hard decision process has a vital importance in the destiny of any construction project. Contractor selection is in essence a multicriteria decision-making that ought to encompass so many aspects of the project and the client’s requirements on one hand and the capabilities and past records of the contractors on the other hand. Failure in selecting a competent contractor may cause time and cost overruns; quality shortcomings; increasing in claims, disputes and change orders; and even failure of the project. In spite of deficiencies of selecting a contractor by the rule of “the lowest bid price”, it still prevails in many countries including Iran. In this paper, a new contractor selection model based on the best-worst method (BWM) and well-known Fuzzy-VIKOR techniques is proposed as a solution to overcome the deficiencies of the traditional “lowest bid price” rule. An illustrative example of a water channel construction project verified the applicability of the proposed model in practice.

Assessment of Barriers to Knowledge and Experience Transfer in Major Maintenance Activities

Systematic failure analysis generally enhances the ability of engineering decision-makers to obtain a holistic view of the causal relationships that often exist within the systems they manage. Such analyses are made more difficult by uncertainties and organisational complexities associated with critical and inevitable industrial maintenance activities such as major overhauls, outages, shutdowns, and turnarounds (MoOSTs). This is perhaps due to the ratio of tasks-to-duration typically permitted. While core themes of MoOSTs including planning, contracts, costing, execution, etc., have been the focus of most research activities, it is worth noting that the ability to successfully transfer and retain MoOSTs knowledge is still under-investigated. Effectively implementing a case study-based approach for data collection, the current study explores the harmonisation of various risk assessments (i.e., fault tree analysis and reliability block diagrams) and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) tools to investigate perceived barriers to MoOSTs knowledge management and experience transfer. The case study selected for this study is a dual process line all-integrated cement manufacturing plant (the largest of such process configuration in its region). The justification for this choice of industry was driven by the volume and frequency of MoOSTs executed each year (typically 4–1 per process line), thereby providing a good opportunity to interact with industrial experts with immense experience in the management/execution of MoOSTs within their industry. A multilayered methodology was adopted for information gathering, whereby baseline knowledge from an earlier conducted systematic review of MoOSTs practices/approaches provided fundamental theoretical trends, which was then complemented by field-based data (from face-to-face interviews, focus group sessions, questionnaires, and secondary information from company MoOSTs documentation). During the analysis, fault tree analysis (FTA) and reliability block diagrams (RBDs) were simultaneously used to generate the causal relationships and criticality that exist between identified barriers, while the MCDA (in this case analytical hierarchy process) was used to identify and prioritise barriers to MoOSTs knowledge management and experience transfer, based on sensitivity analysis and consistency of approach. The primary aim of this study is to logically conceptualise core barriers/limiters to knowledge in temporary industrial project environments such as MoOSTs, as well as enhance the ability of decision-makers to prioritise learning efforts. The results obtained from analysis of data identify three major main criteria (barriers) and 23 subcriteria ranked according to level of importance as indicated from expert opinions.

Contractor Selection for Sgraffito Decoration of Cultural Heritage Buildings Using the WASPAS-SVNS Method

Sgraffito is an ancient decorative technique applied in walls, produced by using layers of cement plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface. This decoration originated in Italy and has been expanded in different European cities or villages. Nowadays, this decoration technique has almost disappeared because of decomposition, inexperience, or lack of knowledge. The preservation and restoration of the sgraffito technique is the most challenging and vital task of cultural heritage buildings’ preservation. Consequently, the conservation of sgraffito depends not only on the historical and architectural knowledge, studies, and conservation projects of the cultural heritage buildings, but also demands the experience, proper qualification, and knowledge of the contractor. This paper presents six principal criteria. Three possible variants for contractor selection for sgraffito decoration of cultural heritage buildings are proposed, and six principal criteria for their evaluation are suggested. The research employs the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), SWARA (Step-Wise Weights Assessment Ratio Analysis), and WASPAS-SVNS (Weight Aggregated Sum Product Assessment-Single- Valued Neutrosophic Set) methods.

Comparing the alternatives for the most favourable personal protective equipment

Evaluation of personal protective equipment is a very demanding task in designing an effective workplace safety programme. There is variable equipment to prevent job accidents, to protect workers' health and safety and to minimize the damage of any possible accident. Comparing the alternatives for the most favourable equipment, e.g. possible high noise levels, is one of the most difficult issues to deal with. In this study, the analytic hierarchy process method allows selection of personal protective equipment analytically, which is used to decide on efficient personal protection equipment when choosing protective shoes, helmets, earmuffs and dust masks.

Key Factors Identification and Risk Assessment for the Stability of Deep Surrounding Rock in Coal Roadway

In order to evaluate the stability of deep surrounding rock, all of the affecting factors should be theoretically identified. However, some factors have slight impacts on the stability of deep surrounding rock compared with others. To conduct an effective risk assessment, key factors should be first extracted. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and grey relation analysis (GRA) methods are integrated to determine the key factors. First, the AHP method is applied to sort the factors by calculating the weights of them. Seven out of fifteen factors are extracted as the key factors, which account for 80% of the weights. Further, the GCA method is used to validate the effects of these key factors by analyzing the correlation between the performance of each factor and that of the reference. Considering the influence of these key factors and experts' judgements, the multilevel fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is adopted to obtain the risk level of the deep surrounding rock stability. Finally, the risk assessment of the deep surrounding rock in the E-Zhuang coal mine of Chinese Xinwen Mining Area illustrates the operability of the proposed method.

Using leading and lagging indicators to select safe contractors at the prequalification stage of construction projects

The contractor-selection decision at the prequalification stage is critical to the project success. An insufficient prediction of contractors' safety capacities using only lagging indicators may hinder the continuous improvement of safety performance in the construction industry. This research enhanced construction management and practices by proposing a comprehensive safe contractor selection model which integrated both leading and lagging indicators. First, a set of leading and lagging safety indicators were identified based on literature review and expert opinions. Then, the grey correlation analysis (GCA) was utilized to assign weights to individual indicators. We found that management commitment, safety training and education, safety risk management, and safety rules and procedures were four most influential factors to the safety performance of contractors. In addition, the fuzzy technique of ordering preference by similarity to ideal solution (Fuzzy TOPSIS) was used to condense individual indicators and create a composite safety performance indicator (c-SPI). Finally, the feasibility of the decision support tool for safe contractor selection was verified using a real-case railway construction project.