Most firms ignore safety regulations
JAKARTA (JP): A senior health official says only 40 percent of some 20,000 companies here have complied with the government regulation instructing them to set up occupational health and safety committees.
Head of the Directorate of Community Participation at the Ministry of Health, Widyastuti Wibisana said during a seminar on occupational safety here on Thursday that many companies' size and facilities have placed them in the category of companies which should have such teams.
"The maintenance of workers's health and occupational safety is needed to boost their productivity, and yet their companies fail to meet the stipulation," she said.
The issue of occupational health and safety falls under the jurisdiction of the ministries of health and manpower.
According to ministry of manpower data, in 1994 alone 17,700 accidents took place in the work place, killing 300 workers and leaving hundreds disabled. Most of the accidents occurred in the construction, transportation and chemical sectors.
Slamet Ichsan of the manpower ministry said the ministry is responsible for ensuring that all companies implement measures to ensure workers' health and safety. "Eventually, it's the companies' responsibility to implement the measures," he said.
He named several programs that the ministry has set up to encourage companies to comply with the regulation.
"We train the companies' workers and management, support relevant activities, and examine workers' working conditions and facilities as well as the workers themselves," said Slamet who is head of the Companies' Hygiene of Occupational Health and Safety department.
He reproached companies which failed to provide workers with the necessary safety equipment simply to keep production costs low.
The 1970 law on occupational health and safety imposes a maximum penalty of three months in prison or a Rp 100,000 (US$42.7) fine on violators.
The seminar was organized by the University of Indonesia's Post-Graduate Study on Occupational Health and Safety. (31)