Risk prioritization in a core preparation experiment using fuzzy VIKOR integrated with Shannon entropy method

What is it about?

With recent advancements in technologies and academic processes, University Laboratories are becoming complex in nature. Researchers and students in laboratories routinely confront health and safety risk challenges. These risk challenges often arise due to different aspects of machines, raw materials used, products produced, or human actions during lab activity. Due to these complexities, it is difficult or nearly impossible to quantify and rank the risk of different hazards associated with lab activity using conventional tools like FMEA, HAZOP, HAZID, etc. Therefore, in this study, a powerful multi-criteria decision tech nique, i.e., the Fuzzy VIKOR method, is applied to quantify Health and Safety risks in an experiment to prepare core samples. Three criteria, i.e., Severity, Occurrence and Detectability, and 18 failure modes (as Health and safety risk) of an experiment are identified that need to be ranked. The Fuzzy VIKOR method suggests the compromise solution to the decision maker with the “maximum group utility” for the ‘‘majority” and the ‘‘minimum of the individual regret” for the ‘‘opponent.” In this study, VIKOR method is supported by the objective weights determined using Shannon entropy. The proposed method can also be applied to rank the Health and Safety risks of other experiments that may belong to the same or other field.

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Photo by Clarissa Watson on Unsplash

Photo by Clarissa Watson on Unsplash