Evaluating Risk Factors of Health and Safety Practices for Managing Hazardous Chemicals in a Fuzzy Environment: A Case Study of Saudi Hospitals

Introduction The health and safety practices while managing hazardous chemicals play a vital role in managing work effectively without any accidents that could lead to injury or death. Various chemicals used in hospitals for maintaining patient health must be handled in a manner that ensures regulatory compliance to prevent any spillage, ingestion, or fires that could put patients' lives in danger. Objectives The present research aimed to evaluate the risk factors associated with managing hazardous chemicals in hospitals, considering health and safety practices. Method In this study, we employed a fuzzy evaluation approach and carried out an empirical analysis. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the critical level (CL) of various identified factors and sub-factors. Results The seven factors identified with their CL were organizing and planning (4.02), chemical hazard identification (3.98), risk evaluation (3.97), control measures (4.01), development of safe activity procedures and provision of training on control of chemical hazards (3.97), creation of a comprehensive plan that includes all procedures, controls, and emergency response actions (4.00), and regular inspection of the site to ensure control measures are effective and adhered to (4.02). Discussion The CL obtained using the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) is an important aspect for hospital administration to plan effective strategies. The mean CL of 4.0, with a maximum of 4.02 and a minimum of 3.97, indicates very low variability, suggesting consistent management performance across the measured factors. Conclusion: The low variability in CL indicates consistent management performance across all factors. The factors with low CL raise concerns for hospital management in handling hazardous chemicals in hospitals.