Hierarchical Analysis for Construction Risk Factors of Highway Engineering Based on DEMATEL-MMDE-ISM Method

To effectively mitigate risks in highway construction and thereby ensure the sustainable development of the transportation sector, this study identifies 27 risk factors across five dimensions—human–machine–environment–process–management—through a combination of literature review, construction accident case analyses, and expert interviews. The Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method, combined with the Maximum Mean Deviation Entropy (MMDE) approach for threshold determination, quantifies centrality and causality of these factors. An Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is employed to construct a multi-level hierarchical framework. The research reveals that highway construction safety risks follow a seven-tier structure: “risk characterization-process assurance-source governance-driven”. Safety education and regulatory systems serve as fundamental drivers, while hazard identification and mitigation, extreme weather response protocols, and equipment compliance form critical safeguard mechanisms. Building on this framework, the study proposes a risk control pathway of “source governance–process interruption–terminal response”, offering practical recommendations for safety management and providing new perspectives for engineering risk assessment and method optimization.