A decision-making model for blasting risk assessment in mines using FBWM and GRA methods

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Risk Management
• Safety Science

Background:

• Blasting operations carry inherent risks, with traditional methods struggling to manage uncertainty and criterion weighting.
• Accurate hazard identification and risk assessment are crucial to prevent catastrophic failures in explosive use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a robust multi-criteria decision-making model for comprehensive blasting risk assessment.
• To address limitations in classical approaches concerning ambiguity, uncertainty, and criterion prioritization in risk analysis.

Main Methods:

• Integration of Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) for risk prioritization.
• Application of the Fuzzy Best-Worst Method (FBWM) for assigning weights to critical risk assessment criteria.
• Validation through sensitivity and comparative analyses to ensure reliability.

Main Results:

• Identified "not using personal anti-static protection devices (R12)", "placing fuse near explosives (R15)", and "premature material delivery (R23)" as top risks.
• Determined the Consequence (C) criterion (weight 0.538) as most significant, followed by Probability (P) (0.294) and Exposure (E) (0.167).
• Validation confirmed the proposed model's appropriate and reliable performance.

Conclusions:

• The proposed GRA-FBWM model offers a superior approach to blasting risk assessment compared to classical methods.
• The findings provide actionable insights for enhancing safety protocols by focusing on identified high-risk factors and criterion importance.
• This method aids decision-makers in more accurate risk identification and assessment, improving overall safety management in blasting operations.