Govt to inspect chemical plants
Govt to inspect chemical plants
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi, West Java
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said the
government would learn from the recent explosion at a chemical
plant in East Java, and increase inspections of chemical plants
to avoid future incidents.
Speaking before employers and workers at the Jababeka
industrial area in Cikarang, West Java, over the weekend, the
minister said manpower and transmigration offices across the
country had been ordered to inspect all plants using dangerous
and toxic substances as their raw materials. The inspectors will
make sure the plants are in compliance with Law No. 6/1974 on
obligatory occupational health and safety standards, and the ILO
convention on labor inspections.
"The government will take action against companies infringing
on the obligatory occupational health and safety program (K3), to
minimize victims of occupational accidents," he said.
Nuwa Wea expressed concern that the explosion at chemical
plant PT Petrowidada in Gresik, East Java, occurred during
occupational health and safety month, which was marked earlier
this month by President Megawati Soekarnoputri honoring employers
with perfect safety records in 2003.
He said he sent a special team to Gresik to investigate
whether the accident was the result of a lack of inspections or
the company's ignorance of the occupational health and safety
program.
"We will take action against any K3 officers who failed to
ensure the implementation of K3 at the company, or bring the
company's management to court if it violated the law," he said.
He said the government wanted chemical and nuclear plants to
learn from the explosion at the Center for Reactor Salvation
Technology of the National Atomic Energy Agency in Serpong,
Banten, in September 1994, and the Chernobyl incident in the
Ukraine in April 1994.
The minister also questioned Petrowidada's participation in
the national Social Security Program (Jamsostek), saying workers
killed and injured in the explosion had not received full
compensation.
"The company's technical director Samsi Abdul Kohir, who was
killed in the incident, has received only Rp 152 million for his
participation in the occupational accident program, death
insurance and pension funds. His family received less because his
monthly salary, which has been submitted to Jamsostek, is only Rp
4 million. The management has allegedly manipulated its workers'
monthly salaries to avoid paying higher insurance premiums," the
minister said, adding the company's management would be brought
to court if found in violation of the social security law.