Accessing Occupational Health Risks Posed by Fishermen Based on Fuzzy AHP and IPA Methods: Management and Performance Perspectives

Abstract

In developing countries such as China, commercial fishermen’s occupational health risks are rarely studied despite being extremely critical for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector. In this study, we attempt for the first time to categorize and prioritize multiple types of health risks posed by these fishermen. This was accomplished by conducting a structured questionnaire survey between 9 January 2022 and 24 May 2022. We sought the professional opinion of fishermen that were located in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, China, namely Zhoushan (121 responses, 64%), Taizhou (66 responses, 49%), and Wenzhou (94 responses, 53%). This study used two hundred eighty-one questionnaires with a consistency ratio (CR) below 0.1 and completed in every respect. Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (Fuzzy AHP) and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) statistics were employed to perform statistical analysis. Results have revealed that commercial fishermen’s health is affected by five main risk factors, namely natural (0.058), biological (0.088), social (0.152), psychological (0.234), and physical (0.468), which are arranged from the least to the most significant risk factors. As for the performance of the main risk factors, the physical risk was ranked first (4.786), followed by social risk (4.571), psychological risk (4.214), biological risk (4.000), and natural risk (3.429). These research findings can serve as guidelines for managers. Moreover, this study discusses ramifications, constraints, and proposals for future research.

MCDM-Based Ranking and Prioritization of Fisheries’ Risks: A Case Study of Sindh, Pakistan

“…In terms of relative importance, IPA and fuzzy AHP were given equal weight. However, IPA was utilized to assess performance attributes, whereas AHP was applied to supplement the IPA's findings and provide a more robust analysis [64,68].…”

“…Fishermen are exposed to various occupational hazards, including increased risks of skin irritation, physical injuries, and infections. Frequent contact with water can increase the risk of skin irritation, physical injuries, and infection being introduced into the body [64]. Although minor injuries such as cuts are common, they can cause infections when bacteria enter the body through the wounds.…”

“…Three types of infections are common among fishermen: desquamation, hair follicle infection, and dermatitis. Parasitic infections can also occur due to constant moist conditions and excessive perspiration associated with high temperatures and elevated levels of humidity [64]. Fishermen are also at risk of viral infections, such as herpes simplex and skin lesions, while parasitic diseases, such as scabies, are rare [65].…”

Application of STEEP and Interpretive Structural Modeling in the Design Imagery of Taiwan Public Ceramic Relief Murals

“…Ming-Tang Wang [4] also recognized the main goals of using ISM to solve rescue-related problems in harsh terrain or landslides. This study hopes to understand the corresponding problems and goals by sorting out the causal relationships and hierarchical relationships of the image factors of PCRM design, complete the goals and directions of effective planning, and provide a reference basis and research method [5][6][7][8][9][10] .…”

Evaluation of sustainable development of the Bohai Sea Rim based on integrated land–sea management: a multi-system coupling and coordination study at coastal, provincial, and city level

“…It covers resource exploitation, socioeconomic development, cross-regional ecological and environmental governance in these areas, and most importantly, forms a cooperation model for environmental governance (NDRC, 2015). These efforts not only promote the coordinated and coupled sustainable development of socioeconomic ecological and environmental systems, and also promote the ILSM system (Yan J-L. et al, 2022;Xue et al, 2023).…”