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.