Most city firms have yet to abide Law on Safety
Most city firms have yet to abide Law on Safety
JAKARTA (JP): The implementation of the occupational health
and safety program (Hiperkes) among city companies is still poor,
despite the fact that it was introduced and passed into law 26
years ago, an official says.
Ironically, most workers are unaware of the importance of the
program as they have been busy struggling for higher minimum
daily wages, the head of Jakarta Hiperkes center, Benny Priatna,
said on Saturday.
Benny said workers are willing to work for money and ignore
the fact that conditions at the workplace and the equipment they
use do not meet requirements set by the government.
"Well, no wonder the implementation of the safety and health
program has been very slow," said Benny, who is also a staff
expert at the manpower ministry.
Another reason why the program has not really taken off is
that companies are reluctant to improve the conditions of the
workplace or provide facilities for the safety of the workers
because the workers do not ask for anything.
According to the regulation, owners of companies that fail to
implement the Hiperkes program face three months imprisonment or
a fine of Rp 100,000.
There are 34,000 companies operating in Jakarta, but no
accurate record of how many have implemented the safety and
health program.
Benny said the program was first introduced and regulated in
1970 and aimed at improving workers' productivity and welfare.
The program necessitates the proper layout of workplaces,
pleasant work environment and protection from various types of
pollution.
"In short, the program, if properly implemented, protects
workers from occupational illness and accidents," he said.
However, few workers realize that many of them suffer from
deadly illnesses they contracted while at the workplace, because
symptoms of the illnesses appear years after infection.
Benny said workers are prone to deadly illnesses such as
cancer, hypertension and other heart related diseases.
"Illness usually emerges years after the workers retire and
the workers are not sure where they got the disease from," he
said. "This has caused another serious problem because the
workers will not get labor insurance."
For example, he said, the chance of a street sweeper getting
lung cancer is high because every day he inhales not only oxygen
but many other gasses and elements such as dust.
Benny said that better promotion of the health and safety
program among workers and companies is necessary. (yns)