A fuzzy decision-making approach to analyze the design principles for green ergonomics

Green ergonomics reflects on the bi-directional interaction between natural and human structures to ensure the well-being and efficacy of human and social systems. The concept of green ergonomics involves a number of principles, whose importance has become increasingly recognized in recent years. The green ergonomics compliance degree of a company is strongly related to how closely it adheres to these principles. Thus, the main objective of this study was to determine which of these principles and sub-principles take priority. Understanding them can only be achieved by determining their relative importance with respect to each other. For this prioritization, the study utilized the hesitant fuzzy analytic hierarchy process as one of the multi-criteria decision-making approaches to calculate the weight of the green ergonomics framework principles. The hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set approach was adopted to develop especially for the cases where experts hesitate during the decision-making process. With the participation of three experts, this paper determined the most critical principle to be “acknowledge how natural systems value design.” The findings of this study can be utilized in a number of ways, such as helping company managers to formulate green ergonomics strategies, presenting a guideline for companies and raising awareness about the relationship between green ergonomics and sustainability.