Identifying the influential contributing factors to micro-enterprises’ workplace accidents using a hybrid D-DEMATEL-IFISM method

Introduction: Micro-enterprises are acknowledged as one of the most high-risk workplaces often due to poor safety practices and performance. Despite ongoing efforts to reduce these workplace accidents, they remain as a serious problem. Therefore, understanding the relationship between the contributing factors to workplace accidents in micro-enterprises remains a key area of interest for safety professionals. Method: This paper presents a new integrated approach comprised of a D number Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (D-DEMATEL) technique, and an Intuitionistic Fuzzy Interpretive Structural Modeling (IFISM) technique. The DEMATEL technique is applied to determine the cause-and-effect relationships of contributing factors, and D number theory is applied to take into account their uncertain characteristics. Lastly the IFISM technique is used to examine the hierarchical structure of driver-driven relationships. Results: Results showed that sixteen factors contribute to the micro-enterprises’ workplace accidents in which “repairing or maintaining equipment under unsafe conditions” and “improper use of tools” are the most important causes. The hierarchal structure analysis showed that the root and basic causes of micro-enterprises’ workplace accidents based on the ISM method were the “improper use of tools” and “repairing or maintaining equipment under unsafe conditions”. Conclusions: This study is the first of its kind to propose a hybrid D-DEMATEL–IFISM method for identifying and evaluating the contributing factors affecting the occurrence of workplace accidents in micro-enterprises. The new method allows insights on contributing factors to be based not only importance, intensity and impact of each identified contributing factor but also on the relationship amongst the contributing factors. Practical application: The study presents key information on the main contributing factors to micro enterprise workplace accidents. These results provide safety professionals with evidence which can be used to focus safety efforts, with a view to reducing workplace accidents in micro enterprises.