Application of the Grey TOPSIS Method to Assess and Select a Contractor in Terms of Occupational Safety Management

Abstract

Abstract The objective of the article is to analyze the possibility of using the gray TOPSIS method to evaluate and select a contractor due to specific criteria regarding occupational health and safety management (OHSM). The choice of contractor is a problem for the decision-maker to make decisions based on many criteria, and most often, these criteria are very diverse, both quantitative and qualitative. The gray TOPSIS method is based on the use of a measure of the relative distance from the best solution, constituting the pattern, and from the worst solution, constituting the anti-pattern, to sort the solutions, using the Grey System Theory. To evaluate and select the contractor, 12 different criteria were used, describing the key areas of OHSM for the decision-maker. The criteria and their weights were selected taking into account the nature of the work planned to be carried out by the company ordering the work. Z-10 annual reports on working conditions in a given year submitted by enterprises to the Central Statistical Office, expert assessments and occupational health and safety procedures provided by five potential contractors were used as sources of information. The research confirmed that the use of gray numbers as part of the TOPSIS method allows the ranking of potential contractors from the point of view of selected criteria and the selection of the company that best meets the assumed occupational health and safety management criteria.