Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM/A) methods have been applied in many risk management contexts. This article aims to diagnose the state of the art and identify research directions of multicriteria models applied in risk management. A systematic literature review is structured in order to answer seven main research questions. The steps of the research methodology are highlighted. Data were extracted and analysed based on the main aspects of MCDM/A methods applied in risk management and risk analysis during the last 33 years. These include measuring the number of publications and citations; listing research areas and fields of applications; MCDM/A approaches and problematics; considering both group and individual decision making; discussing criteria and the number of criteria and the decision maker’s (DM’s) rationality, all in the context of risk management. Finally, the identification of research directions of MCDM/A models applied in risk studies aids managerial decision making since these research directions include a multidimensional view of problems and take into account the DM’s preferences structure.

Even though an underground electricity distribution system is safer than an overhead system, several accidents have occurred in them. Assessing the risk of hundreds or even thousands of underground vaults is a hard task. Furthermore, given the large variability in external and internal environments and, hence, there being a wide range of possible consequences when an accident occurs, an approach to risk assessment under a multidimensional view is required. Moreover, in terms of decision making, the aggregation of the decision maker's preferences in modeling, by multiple-criteria decision-making methods, is more complete, comprehensive, and, in particular, includes considering the decision maker's desires. Therefore, this study puts forward a multidimensional assessment of the risks from underground vaults by generating a decision tool, which ranks the vaults in a risk hierarchy. Multiattribute utility theory was used to achieve this ranking. An application was generated to demonstrate the applicability of the model, under the following aspects of consequences: those that are human, financial, and operational; and disruptions to local vehicular traffic. The use of information arising from analysis of the differences between risks enabled the decision maker to make an in-depth analysis of the range of possibilities over which alternatives may be chosen in order to implement preventive actions.