Application of Delphi technique and analytic hierarchy process to prioritize the occupational health and safety management system requirements

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational health and safety (OH&S) in small organizations are still unable to meet OHS requirements. This may have an impact on the health and safety of employees. There are many requirements for ISO 45001implementation. Many organizations lack sufficient evidence regarding which requirements are important and must be prioritized for system implementation. This study aimed to determine the importance of weights (IW) from OHS requirements including setting new optional requirements for use as OHS guidelines.

Methods: The study was conducted from August and September 2023. Data collection involved using standardized questionnaires related to ISO 45001 requirements and additional requirements based on expert’s opinions. Delphi technique and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were used for data analysis.

Results: The IW from ISO45001 requirements included the context of the organization (IW=0.203), leadership and worker participation (IW=0.254), planning (IW=0.184), support (IW=0.100), operation (IW=0.102), performance evaluation (IW=0.076) and improvement (IW=0.081). The leadership and worker participation were the highest of IW, while the performance evaluation indicated the lowest of IW. In addition, the new optional requirement apart from ISO 45001 indicated that there were nine essential requirements of significance. These requirements included business competition in the market, product safety development, product pricing cost, modern machinery and equipment used for production processes, work experience, budget allocation for safety control and system supervisor, operations, compliance with laws and regulations, safety recommendations and hazard control.

Conclusion: Prioritization of ISO 45001 requirements could use the implementation guidelines effectively. In addition, the inclusion of relevant new requirements also increased confidence in protecting the safety of employees.