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.