Weighting the Checklist for Evaluating the Performance of Industrial Occupational Health Experts Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Considering that the health of workers is largely dependent on the performance of industrial occupational health experts, the existence of standard tools to evaluate their performance will help ensure the health of workers. The objective of the present study was to weight and rank the items and subscales of the checklist for evaluating the performance of industrial occupational health experts using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

This cross-sectional study was conducted on the checklist notified by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The checklist contained 48 items categorized into five subscales including general activities, education, occupational medicine, occupational health, and safety. The paired metrics of the items and subscales were prepared and given to 4 occupational health inspectors of the Ministry of Health for scoring. Then, the items were weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Expert Choice software (version 11).

A comparison of the items showed that the occupational health subscale with a weight of 28.7 had the highest weight followed by the occupational medicine subscale with a weight of 21.6, and the education subscale with a weight of 17.4. The lowest value was given to the general activity subscale with a weight of 15.9.

Industrial occupational health experts are recommended to pay more attention to the subscales with a higher weight because of their significance in achieving their ultimate goal, which is to maintain the health of workers.