Most local firms 'ignore safety'
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
What would you do if a fire starts in your office, the lifts are out of service and the emergency staircase is locked or packed with furniture?
Or you get a job as a window cleaner on tall buildings but your boss doesn't provide you with a safety harness?
According to a manpower official, ignorance about work safety is common in this country, so perhaps it's a good time to start writing your will.
Most companies in the country, especially small- and medium- scale enterprises, were reluctant to invest in occupational health and safety programs at work, Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration secretary general Tjepy F. Aloewie told The Jakarta Post.
"Many firms think that investing in health and safety is an extra cost to their business," Tjepy said.
And a significant number of bosses do not seem to care about the safety of their staff, but prefer to put profits ahead of people.
In many cases, decision-makers in those companies told him they could easily find replacements for workers who died in occupational accidents, Tjepy said.
"They do not calculate the employees' work experience which might be priceless. It takes some time to train new employees to reach a certain level of expertise," Tjepy said.
By not investing in occupational welfare, companies risk breaking work safety laws, which could result in stiff fines or jail terms for company bosses. DuPont safety resources Cahyo Hindarto said bad publicity about accidents in the company once caused a decline in the value of its shares in stock market.
State social insurance company PT Jamsostek data for 2001 showed 104,774 occupational accidents in the year, with 57,972 cases in the first half of 2002, Data on fatalities and the nature of injuries for 2002 or later years was not available. Out of 80,542 who were injured at work in 1999, 7,426, or almost 10 percent, died.
Some 40 percent of the accidents took place in the manufacturing industry.
The data excluded the number of diseases workers caught on site.
The level of work accidents in Indonesia was similar to that in Thailand or the Philippines, Tjepy said. But Indonesia probably had a higher rate due to the high number of unreported cases, he said.
Senior occupational safety and health specialist to the International Labor Organization, Ingrid Christensen, said some companies might not be aware about reporting accidents that happened at work.
"Most likely this kind of thing is due to a lack of awareness. They do not know that they have to report, they do not know where to report," she said.
BP Indonesia spokesman Waluyo said in multinational companies, health and safety at work was a concept "embedded" in the business.
"We do not consider it an extra cost," he said.
Project manager of DuPont safety resources, Cahyo Hindarto. said safety and health at work should become a culture.
He said most government programs on safety and health at work targeted medium-level management but failed to reach decision- makers at a higher level.
"Many (medium-level managers) became frustrated because other divisions do not care about safety and health," Cahyo said.
Accidents and compensation in Indonesia
No. Year Accident Case Compensation Paid
(Rp)
1. 1995 65,949 39 billion
2. 1996 82,066 50.2 billion
3. 1997 95,759 70.7 billion
4. 1998 88,336 76 billion
5. 1999 80,542 83.3 billion
Source: http://www.asean-oshnet.or.id