Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies: Validating and Identifying Health and Safety Performance Improvement Indicators: Experience of Using Delphi Technique
    

This article is based on a study of the Delphi technique. The discussion is about how successful and challenging quantative and qualitative approach is being measured in health and safety. The Delphi technique method is a constructivist or interpretive approach to knowledge. In the first round of Delphi, a questionnaire was developed to identify core elements and leading indicators characterizing H&S culture. The communication used for this experiment was emails. The study was used to take consensus in areas to unearth information to measure H&S performance for construction SMEs in South Africa.  Fernandez et al. (2007), indicated a lack of consensus that constitute health and safety management systems is a critical component to H&S culture. The leading indicators focused on in the Delphi method are management commitment and involvement, employee involvement and empowerment, resources, and training, involved in H&S. The indicators are to support the need for the Delphi method for measuring H&S performance. Again, this study is designed to use both quantative and qualitative approach and it straddles between the two. This research project was chosen for the second phase of the methodology report.
 There were two major reasons that Linstone and Turoof, (1975) refused to give a definition of Delphi method. First reason was that they felt a research technique should be continuously evolving in different areas definable to progress stopping. Secondly, they felt it was more of an art than a science. In researching the Delphi method, Ludwig (1994) indicated the questionnaire was a drawback that may slow the process down greatly between rounds. Being that this method is considered an iterative method and sequential to the problem, the Delphi method should involve emails or use of the telephones because of its involvement in iteration (Hsu & Sanford, 2007).
Work Cited Fernandez-muniz, B., Montes-Peon, M. J. & Vazques-Ordas, J. C. (2007). Safety culture: Analysis of the casual relationships between its key dimensions. Journal of Sfety & Research, 38 (6), 627-641.
Hsu,C., & Sanford, A.B. (2007). Minimizing non-response in the Delphi process: How to respond to non-response, Practical assessment, research and evaluation, 12 (17), 62-78.