Risk analysis in occupational health and safety with hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets: Lifting equipment/mobile crane operation

The construction sector is an area that harbors high risks and has constantly changing dynamics, which is why Occupational Health and Safety and risk assessment hold a very important place in this sector. Risk assessment is mandatory to ensure the safety of employees, prevent costs and delays that may arise from accidents, fulfill legal obligations, protect the company's reputation, and minimize environmental impacts. This research aims to conduct a risk assessment analysis focusing on "Lifting Equipment/Mobile Crane" operations in construction projects, based on the widely used methodology of Multi-Criteria – Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets in decision-making processes. Within this scope, three Occupational Health and Safety experts in the field were asked to compare previously identified hazards using the Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets method, after which the data were analyzed to calculate the importance weights and rankings of the hazards. According to this ranking, the unsuitability of the ground for stabilizing the crane emerged as the most significant hazard with approximately 16% weight. On the other hand, unauthorized persons entering the lifting area, and the lack of proper striping and solid barriers were identified as the least significant hazards with 7% weight. At the end of the study, protective measures for each risk were suggested based on expert opinions.