Employers pay little attention to safety: Experts

JAKARTA (JP): Many companies pay little attention to the great risks facing employees working in dangerous work environments, despite the fact that workers are a major asset to their industries, experts said on Friday.

Indonesian Association of Occupational Health and Safety (AHKKI) Chairman Tan Malaka said that among the major industrial companies, only those working in the oil and gas sector had adequate established health and safety procedures for their employees.

In the oil and gas sector, people believe that it is natural for workers to receive more attention considering the nature of their workplaces, which are either off-shore oil rigs or secluded mines, Malaka said. He added that most of the companies were owned by wealthy groups or joint ventures with foreign capital investment.

In reality, however, employees subject to dangerous conditions also include construction workers, people required to work with heavy machinery, transportation and maritime industry workers, or people exposed to chemical substances, high levels of noise and dust.

Malaka was speaking on the opening day of a two-day national seminar on employee health and safety awareness jointly held by AHKKI and the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration.

Awareness of employee health and safety is necessary, not only to support ill employees, but also to prevent accidents and provide a safer working environment for the workers, Malaka said.

He added that poor attention to safety issues had been exacerbated by employers' misinterpretation of health and safety principles, resulting in oversimplified approaches in dealing with employee needs.

"Some companies think that if they have provided a company doctor and a health clinic then they have done enough. For some it may be enough, but for others (companies with dangerous tasks) that is not adequate," he said.

"Doctors still need more specific knowledge on occupational health and safety, as they have to know what risks employees face, including chemical threats, industrial hygiene and industrial psychology," he said.

Thorough health and safety awareness also covers psychological counseling for workers.

"If a worker becomes deaf after excessive exposure to loud machinery, who will take care of them, console them?" he said.

Nationwide, there are only 600 doctors specializing in occupational health registered with the Indonesian Association of Occupational Health and Safety.

University of Indonesia Medical School lecturer Tata Soemitra said concerns for employee health and safety had long been a "marginal matter" among employers, even though they realized that their workers are crucial to running their industries.

"We are really concerned with the fact and hope that we can promote this issue to become a priority among business people so that they will not just think about how to make large profits, but how to create safe and healthy work environments as well," he said.

Indonesia, according to Tata, has been left behind compared to neighboring countries Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore in managing occupational health and safety.

In a bid to help doctors gain expertise in the area, the University of Indonesia established formal courses dealing with occupational health and safety in 1994. (emf)