Application of Fuzzy Assessment Method to Emergency Response Capability in Hazardous Materials Transportation

In recent years, with the dramatic increase in the volume of hazardous materials and frequency of accidents in China, it has become an urgent priority to improve emergency response capacity and to research methods of assessment for emergency response capacity. Based on the characteristics of sudden accidents involving hazardous materials and the mechanisms of emergency management as well as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), this paper presents an emergency response capacity index system which selects three stages and eleven response capabilities that are relevant to establishing systems of evaluation of emergency response capacity as research subjects and develops a theoretical model for assessment of emergency response capability in hazardous materials transportation in China. In this model, a fuzzy mathematics method of evaluation was used for computing and describing the subjects, thereby ordering the importance of various emergency response capability factors. Utilizing the application of this assessment measure, an example of an enterprise has been evaluated. Comparison of the comprehensive assessment result of emergency response capabilities with the computed scores reveals both the advantages and disadvantages of the enterprise concerning emergency response capability objectively and is helpful to rebuild and enhance these weak emergency response capabilities. .