Work safety management needed to reduce accidents
Work safety management needed to reduce accidents
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration hopes that the
2004 Health and Work Safety Month will encourage all companies in
the country to pay greater attention to safety, in turn reducing
the number of accidents in the workplace.
The annual work safety month starts on Jan. 12 and finishes on
Feb. 12 every year, where local governments are expected to
create campaigns on the issue by holding seminars, gatherings and
conducting medical checkups.
"The awarding of 157 companies is expected to encourage others
to pay broader attention to safety and the availability of
preventive measures," said the ministry's director of work safety
supervision, Abdul Djabar on Wednesday.
On Monday, the ministry awarded 157 companies for their zero
work accident record, and another 75 for excellent management of
health and work safety.
Among the companies awarded were fertilizer producer PT Pusri
in South Sumatra, steel manufacturer PT Krakatau Steel in Banten,
cement producer PT Industri Kemasan Semen Gresik in East Java,
and PT United Tractors in East Kalimantan.
Djabar said that the assessment was conducted by the
ministry's regional offices and assessor company PT Sucofindo.
The companies assessed were especially those where major risks
prevail, such as industrial companies.
The vice president of Sucofindo International Certification
Services, Rudianto, said that good safety management would
hopefully result in zero accidents.
"Among the criterion were whether the company had a consistent
system in applying health and work safety measures, that all
personnel were capable of implementing them, an internal audit,
and others," Rudianto told The Jakarta Post.
He added that other factors in the assessment included the
availability of standard safety measures, such as emergency
exits, fire extinguishers, and tools certification.
Data from state-owned insurance firm PT Jamsostek shows that
there were 51,528 work related accidents in the first seven
months of last year.
Jamsostek recorded 103,804 cases in 2002, and 104,774 cases in
2001.
Djabar said that the definition of a work accident was an
accident that was unforeseen, hampered work routines, and caused
both material and nonmaterial losses.
"Some examples are explosions, fire, or sickness caused by
company' equipment or work environment," he said.
According to Law No. 13/2003 on manpower, all companies must
apply a health and work safety system that is integrated into the
companies' management system.