Essential Qualifications for Safety Personnel in the Indian Construction Industry: Delphi Approach

Abstract

Safety remains a notable concern in the construction sector. Experts have highlighted how the presence of qualified safety personnel can play a crucial role in preventing and reducing severe injuries. However, in the Indian construction industry, there is a substantial lack of specific guidelines for selecting qualified construction safety personnel and the criteria employed to assess individuals for different safety positions. Therefore, this study aimed to reduce this gap by identifying the desired qualifications for safety personnel in Indian construction organizations. First, social platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Naukri were utilized to retrieve information on the necessary qualifications for safety personnel in the construction industry. This process covers four positions: junior safety officer, safety officer, safety engineer, and safety manager. Next, 13 construction experts participated in the Delphi survey, which consisted of two rounds, to determine the qualifications of the safety personnel. In the first round, the experts were asked to indicate the desired qualifications for each safety position identified from social platforms. Subsequently, in the second round, the same Delphi panel members were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the desired qualifications that had been identified. The findings from the Delphi survey, which highlighted the desired qualifications, such as experience, education, and certification for each safety position, were then validated through a questionnaire survey administered to 17 construction professionals. The study findings provide valuable guidelines for assessing and qualifying construction safety personnel within Indian construction organizations and will significantly contribute to establishing a safe construction workplace environment.