Prioritizing Process Safety Management Elements in Offshore Operations: An Integrated AHP–TOPSIS Approach

Process safety management (PSM) systems in offshore petroleum operations require systematic prioritization owing to complex technologies, harsh conditions, and resource constraints. This study develops an integrated framework for prioritizing PSM elements to optimize resource allocation. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) were integrated to evaluate 20 Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) elements against 9 criteria identified through literature review and expert consultation. Expert weighting factors were quantitatively derived based on organizational position, professional experience, education, and domain maturity, with consistency ratios confirmed below 0.1. weighted AHP (W-AHP) identified 'Ease of Implementation' and 'Time of Implementation' as highest-priority criteria. Standard TOPSIS prioritized 'Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis' (rank 1), 'Management Review and Continuous Improvement' (rank 2), and 'Process Safety Culture' (rank 3). Weighted TOPSIS (W-TOPSIS) produced substantially different rankings: 'Safe Work Practice' (rank 1), 'Incident Investigation' (rank 2), and 'Workforce Involvement' (rank 3), demonstrating systematic shift toward operational procedures and human factors when expert judgment is incorporated. This expert-weighted approach provides a context-sensitive methodology for PSM prioritization, bridging the gap between theoretical safety frameworks and operational implementation realities.