Comparison of Commonly Used Accident Analysis Techniques for Manufacturing Industries

Abstract

The adverse consequences of major accident events have led to development of accident analysis techniques to investigate thoroughly the accidents. However, each technique has its own advantages and shortcomings,which make it very difficult to find a single technique being capable of analyzing all types of accidents. Therefore, the comparison of accident analysis techniques would help finding out their capabilities in different circumstances to choose the most one. In this research, the techniques CBA and AABF were compared with Tripod β in order to determine the superior technique for analysis of major accidents in manufacturing industries. At first step, the comparison criteria were developed using Delphi Method. Afterwards, the relative importance of each criterion was qualitatively determined and the qualitative values were then converted to the quantitative values  applying  Fuzzy  triangular  numbers.  Finally,  the  TOPSIS  was  used  to  prioritize  the techniques in terms of the preset criteria. The results of the study showed that Tripod β is superior to the CBA and AABF. It is highly recommended to compare all available accident analysis techniques based on proper criteria in order to select the best one whereas improper choice of accident analysis techniques may lead to misguided results.