A worker killed every other day<\/p>\n
By Teten Masduki<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Blue-collar workers in Indonesia lead a hard
\nexistence strapped with long working hours coupled with low
\nwages. They are not only easily fired and repressed but are also
\nprone to deadly occupational accidents.<\/p>\n
Keeping up with the industrial growth rate, occupational
\naccidents are registering an increasing rate every year.<\/p>\n
A recent report by state-owned workers insurance company Perum
\nAstek reveals that in the first six months of 1997, there were
\n4,963 worker accident cases claiming 118 lives in an industrial
\nestate in East Java -- an average of 17 deaths a month. In 1995,
\nby comparison, there were only 1,780 cases of occupational
\naccidents claiming 110 lives.<\/p>\n
Another report filed by the Bogor branch office of state-owned
\nsocial securities company Jamsostek cited occupational accidents
\noccurring in Bogor, West Java up to September of this year as
\nhaving resulted in 31 workers being killed, 103 people
\npermanently disabled and 2,346 injured without being handicapped.<\/p>\n
Overwhelming numbers are seen on a provincial scale from Astek
\nwhich reported that in 1994, West Java saw 18,300 cases of work
\naccidents claiming 118 lives, permanently disabling 7,507 workers
\nand injuring 16,674 people.<\/p>\n
This means that one worker was killed every three days. In
\nother words, some 350 occupational accidents on average occurred
\neach month in some of the 19,758 companies joining PT Askes which
\nemploy a total of 2,496,399 workers in West Java.<\/p>\n
These figures clearly show that in reality occupational safety
\nis far from adequate despite the intensified campaign of the
\nnational drive on occupational health and safety, known by its
\nIndonesian acronym as K3, launched three years ago.<\/p>\n
Besides technical aspects and working conditions, human errors
\non the part of both workers and company owners are also
\nresponsible for occupational accidents.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, no research has ever been conducted to
\ndetermine which factor is the main cause of occupational
\naccidents. However, reports of occupational accidents often
\ndescribe workers being crushed by a machine, coming into contact
\nwith hazardous production materials or being caught in a fire.<\/p>\n
The government has tried to encourage employers to comply with
\nthe K3 standards. Every year since 1987, the government has
\nawarded companies achieving a zero accident rate with a citation.
\nThe result is, however, still far from satisfactory. In 1995
\nalone, out of total of some 150,000 companies across the country,
\nthere were only 63 companies awarded with the zero accident
\ncitation.<\/p>\n
In fact, legislation that provides protection to workers
\nagainst occupational accidents is not lacking. Law No. 1\/1970 on
\noccupational safety, containing K3 preventive provisions,
\nstipulates among other things that workers are entitled to
\noccupational safety while at work. It also states that in
\nguaranteeing this right, companies are obligated to provide
\nhealthy working conditions through occupational security and
\nsafety facilities.<\/p>\n
Management, for example, is required to put up at a work place
\na notice giving all technical directives on occupational safety,
\nprovide workers with free self-protection devices and set up a
\ncommittee to foster K3 provisions.<\/p>\n
Especially with respect to the prevention of a fire at a work
\nplace, a company is required to provide technical training to
\nworkers on fire prevention and self-rescue methods. Factory
\nbuildings must be made of inflammable materials and, while
\nproduction is going on, exits and entrances must not be locked or
\nblocked. Fire extinguishers must also be provided and placed
\nwhere they can be easily reached.<\/p>\n
It is compulsory for companies to install automatic fire alarm
\nsystems which use heat, smoke and flame detectors with a manual
\ncall point. This system must go through periodical (weekly,
\nmonthly or annual) inspections to be carried out by a fire
\nconsultant (stipulated in Minister of Manpower Regulation No.
\n02\/1982).<\/p>\n
The issuance of Law No. 2\/1992 on Workers' Social Securities
\nalso has been encouraging as the government has been intensively
\npromoting and publicizing the law. Workers' social securities
\ncontribution fees are compulsory for companies employing a
\nminimum of 10 workers or paying total monthly wages of at least
\nRp 1 million.<\/p>\n
Workers' social securities cover old age, death, permanent
\ndisability, occupational accidents and diseases contracted from
\nworking conditions. This law has a weak spot, however, in that it
\nis concerned with workers in the formal sector only, while in
\nfact most workers are found in the informal sector.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of constraints hampering
\nthe enforcement of this law. Many employers do not register their
\nworkers. Others pay workers' social securities contribution fees
\nfor their permanent workers but not for their workers employed on
\na contract basis.<\/p>\n
Ironically, it is often the case that the number of contract
\nworkers exceeds that of permanent ones. Employers tend to opt for
\na contract system in their recruitment and will probably maintain
\nthis practice for years. It is estimated that prior to 1996, only
\n41 percent of all companies for which workers' social securities
\ncontribution fees were mandatory joined this workers' social
\nsecurities program.<\/p>\n
It may well be that compliance with K3 normative provisions
\nwill reduce the rate of occupational accidents and ensure the
\nvictims that they will have social securities. At this juncture
\nthe government's system of control over the implementation of K3
\nnorms plays an important role.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 1\/1970, the enforcement of occupational
\nsafety laws is the responsibility of the Minister of Manpower,
\nwho in practice delegates the duty to lesser officials and
\nsupervisors with special expertise.<\/p>\n
Until now, there have been no official reports on the
\ncondition of occupational safety and health facilities in
\ncompanies, or the criminal penalties imposed on companies which
\nfail to comply with K3 provisions. This indicates weak
\nsupervision, which derives from an inadequate supervision system
\nand an insufficient number of supervisors.<\/p>\n
According to a director in the Ministry of Manpower, the
\nnumber of companies which should be supervised stands at 150,000
\nwhile the Ministry of Manpower has only 1,170 supervisors, of
\nwhom only 500 people have K3 expertise.<\/p>\n
On top of this, a criminal penalty for those violating
\nmanpower laws is very light, carrying only a maximum fine of Rp
\n100,000 or a maximum sentence of three months in jail.<\/p>\n
A tougher penalty of Rp 50 million has been put in place
\nregarding the non-implementation of workers' social security
\nplans. However, in the bigger picture, it must be admitted that
\nthe protection of workers' rights still takes a back seat when
\ncompared to the national priority of expanding employment
\nopportunities. As a consequence, employers may simply think that
\nthe provision to modify their workplaces to comply to K3
\nprovisions would only jack up production costs and reduce their
\ncompetitive edge.<\/p>\n
Therefore, greater emphasis should be placed on the law
\nenforcement and supervision over the implementation of manpower
\nlaws and policies, particularly with regard to K3. In this case,
\nsocial sanctions such as announcing to the public companies which
\nviolate K3 norms may be considered amidst the weak criminal
\npenalties at present.<\/p>\n
Also, the empowerment of a labor supervision system may be
\nbrought about by providing more room for the involvement of
\nworkers and\/or worker organizations. This may be quite a relevant
\noption to increase supervision since law enforcement is still
\ncolored by the interaction between powerholders and economic
\ndevelopment players.<\/p>\n
The writer is head of the manpower division at the Indonesian
\nLegal Aid Institute Foundation, Jakarta<\/p>",
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