November 3, 2025 | 04:42 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Manpower revealed 104 cases of workplace accidents in the nickel industry throughout 2019-2025. "Our inspection reveals many workplace accidents on the ground," said the Manpower Inspector of the Ministry of Manpower, Hugo Nainggolan, during a discussion session at the Ashley Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Monday, November 3, 2025.
A total of 107 workers were killed in these accidents, with 105 others suffering minor to severe injuries. According to him, there are three main causes of workplace accidents in the upstream nickel sector.
The main cause, according to Hugo, is the absence of occupational safety and health operational procedures (OSH SOP) coupled with the lack of internal company supervision. "The work is driven solely by targets," he said.
Hugo also identified other causes of workplace accidents. One of them is due to company negligence in the inspection, testing, and maintenance of work equipment. Work accidents, according to Hugo, can also occur because the first aid personnel do not have OSH licenses.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Labor Struggle Confederation (KPBI), Damar Panca, underscored Law Number 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety and Health. According to Damar, the outdated law is no longer relevant in responding to the dynamics of occupational safety and health because there has been a change in the country's industrial pattern.
When the law was enacted, Indonesia was in the phase of manufacturing industrialization. Whereas currently, according to Damar, Indonesia has shifted to the extractive industry, which is considered to have a higher risk of workplace accidents. Moreover, Damar noted that the Indonesian government is also intensively promoting the downstreaming program for mining products.
Damar urged the government to incorporate and make OSH a core issue in the revision of the law. "This is actually a warning for companies that do frequent violations," he said.
He also raised concerns about the implementation of administrative sanctions to criminal penalties against companies that refuse to comply with OSH, or known locally as K3. Furthermore, K3 violations are on the rise.
Damar cited criminal penalties in the form of fines of Rp15 million for companies, which Damar said is not commensurate with the company's income, which can reach trillions of rupiah. Moreover, the amount of the fine can be reduced to Rp1 million after the legal process. Due to the perceived small amount of the fine, Damar stated that it will not have a deterrent effect on companies that violate the rules.
Damar believes that OSH certificates are actually just formalities for companies. After obtaining the certificate from the Ministry of Manpower, companies are unwilling to implement it correctly. Moreover, according to Damar, the failure in OSH implementation is also influenced by the lack of government supervision.
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