Assessment of precautionary measures against COVID-19 in Indonesian workplaces

Abstract

As the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic spread across Indonesia, the precautionary measures have been taken by nearly all stakeholders, including industries and employers. The purpose of this study is to assess the measures took against COVID-19 pandemic in the workplaces across the country. This research involved participants from 103 different companies using a questionnaire adapted from Better Work Indonesia (BWI), occupational safety and health association (OSHA) and centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines. The data analysis conducted with descriptive statistics that resulted with the following key findings. Indonesian companies have taken precautionary measures against COVID-19 at their workplace. Most aspects of COVID-19 preventive measures: policy and procedure, operational aspect, health and safety, and external activities have been observed by the vast majority of the subjects. This study found that among 30 COVID-19 programs, the emergency exercise at work was the only one that had not been conducted by more than half of respondents. As the number of active cases still growing at the time this study conducted, all precautionary measures against COVID-19 shall be carried out with consistency by the company management).

COVID-19 in the Workplace in Indonesia

“…The findings of the study provide a broad perspective on the implementation of the health protocol, its drivers, barriers, and challenges that are common across the organizations and within sectors. Research about COVID-19 transmission prevention and health measures implemented in the workplace is limited [6,[11][12][13][14][15][16]. Even though previous studies have been conducted for precautionary measures against COVID-19 in Indonesian workplaces, analyses about drivers, barriers, and challenges against health protocols have not been determined [6,17].…”

“…In addition to explaining the stages of the business continuity plan, the Minister of Manpower Circular Number M/7/AS.02.02/V/2020 also discusses the health protocols that must be implemented in the workplace to prevent the transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) [4,6,9]. The health protocol that must be implemented includes:…”

“…(1) maintaining a clean and sanitary work environment; (2) providing hand washing facilities, such as soap or hand sanitizer and running water; (3) ensuring that all workers must wear masks when going to work or leaving their homes; (4) providing a non-contact thermometer to check the worker's body temperature before coming to work and paying attention to the health condition of workers. Workers with a body temperature of above 37.5 • C or with symptoms of cough/cold/sore throat/shortness of breath are not allowed to work in the workplace; (5) setting up the distance between workers to be at least 1 m and urging workers not to have physical contact with other workers; (6) providing education and outreach to all workers regarding COVID-19, such as what COVID-19 is, its causes, symptoms, ways of transmission, and preventive measures; (7) arranging the company work system so that workers can work at home or schedule workers who have to continue working at the office to minimize the number of workers working at the same time; and (8) if there are workers showing COVID-19 symptoms, the health workers or OSH experts in the company need to report and coordinate with relevant agencies and provide education about independent isolation to these workers [4,5,9].…”

“…Meanwhile, the ministry continued to collaborate with other countries and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on COVID-19 prevention and control measures [4,5]. Several preventive measures for COVID-19 transmission in the workplace within Indonesian companies have been implemented including the implementation of procedure and policy, operational, health and safety programs, and external activities [6].…”

Returning to Work after the COVID-19 Pandemic Earthquake: A Systematic Review

“…The first actions taken by all stakeholders were to quickly assess the additional risk from the virus diffusion and exclude vulnerable workers from potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace, also involving the OPs in these actions. The management should understand the importance of a participated approach in promoting and educating health behaviour and update the latest pandemic knowledge to identify whether changes or additional measures need to be taken [56]. Several strategies mitigate SARS-CoV-2 occupational outbreaks and promote remodelling working activities.…”