Going to work shouldn't mean dying on the job

Going to work shouldn't mean dying on the job

By Emmy Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): Death is one of life's certainties. Nobody is
exempt from death and it can happen at anytime to anyone.

The only precaution we can take is to protect ourselves from
harm, something casual workers in this city rarely do.

As a result, at least one worker is reportedly killed at their
workplace every four days, while an unknown number of others are
injured.

Forensic data from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital reveals
that 118 people died in work-related accidents this year,
compared to 101 workers last year.

Members of the city's workforce died after falling from
buildings, being crushed by heavy machinery, trapped in a fire or
drowning.

In many cases, their deaths were primarily attributed to a
lack of awareness about safety and their employers' reluctance to
equip them or their workplace with appropriate safety gadgets.

One of the most appalling stories was an early morning traffic
accident on Jl. Pluit Utara Raya in North Jakarta which claimed
the life of a 30-year-old female street sweeper on Sept. 29.

The victim, Raha, was cleaning the street about 6 a.m. when a
speeding jeep struck her, crushing her head with its wheel and
dragging her body for a few meters. The mother of four died
instantly.

Raha and her fellow sweepers did not have safety equipment,
such as traffic signs to alert motorists or fluorescent stripes
on their uniforms. Their company, PT Nangka Citra Tama, only
provided them with a broom.

A cleaner, Maman, 29, was killed in a fire at the well-known
Pasaraya shopping center in Blok M, South Jakarta, on Aug. 23.

Maman and his younger brother Oleh, 19, were inside an air
conditioning duct fixing the foam rubber lining when fire
engulfed the duct.

It is par for the course that employers, as well as building
owners, try to conceal details about the accidents from the
media.

A staffer of Pasaraya even slapped the face of cameraman from
a private television station when he attempted to get footage of
Maman's body.

According to Cipto's data, most of the victims of work-related
accidents this year were construction workers.

One of the many dreadful incidents this year included the
death of a tower crane operator at a building site in the Mega
Kuningan complex, South Jakarta, on Oct. 6.

Khafidz, 23, died instantly when he plummeted about 70 meters
to the ground inside the crane's dislodged operator's cab.

Three days later, Edi Suparman, 31, a worker on the Park Lane
Hotel construction project on Jl. Casablanca in South Jakarta,
slipped and fell from 10-meter-high scaffolding. He had no safety
equipment.

A young construction worker at a project site on Jl. Kuningan
Barat in Mampang Barat, South Jakarta, was stuck on the head by a
falling iron block. Ujang, 17, died the following day, Oct. 22,
in a hospital.

Two days later, Sumarno, 42, a painter, died after falling
from scaffolding on the 23rd floor of the Simprug Teras Apartment
project in South Jakarta.

He was believed to be responsible for painting the interior of
the rooms.

However the death toll for workers soared following the deaths
of 15 people in Bank Indonesia's tower A after fire gutted the
top four floors of the 25-story building on Jl. MH. Thamrin in
Central Jakarta on Dec. 8.

The fire in the uncompleted building claimed the lives of lift
operators, painters, welders from various companies and three BI
staffers.

To date, none of the employers, developers or owners of the
buildings, where work-related accidents occurred, have been
arrested or taken responsibility for the death of their workers.

The incidents are often neglected and the paperwork piles up
on police desks before being filed away as unfortunate accidents.

Families are helpless and unable to file lawsuits, not only
due to their poor education background and low income but also
because of their sorrow.

According to labor activist Teten Masduki of the Foundation of
the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), employers who fail to
comply with laws could be taken to court and charged with
criminal and civil offenses as stated in the workers' safety
regulations.

And negligent employers can be charged with committing a
corporate crime if they fail to provide adequate safety
facilities for their workers, Teten said.

The management can be tried civilly for failing to ensure
worker's safety and their licenses could be revoked, he said.

But enforcing the laws is another matter.

Teten said sanctions against negligent employers are too
lenient and current laws do not anticipate the possibility of
corporate crimes.

The large number of workplace deaths indicate that provisions
for workers' safety are still insufficient despite the aggressive
campaign for safety at construction sites throughout the city.