A total of 13 workers are reportedly dead, while 39 others are injured due to a furnace explosion in a nickel processing facility of PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel located in an area managed by the PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park on Sunday (December 24).
"Following the accident, the Central Sulawesi government immediately dispatched a supervisory team. A team from the ministry follows on Monday," the ministry's Director General of the Development of Manpower Supervision and Safety and Health, Haiyani Rumondang, noted in a press release on Monday.
She remarked that the Ministry of Manpower had been coordinating with the Manpower Office of Central Sulawesi and relevant companies to deal with the work accident.
Rumondang emphasized that metal smelting are classified as activities with a high accident risk, which necessitates parties involved in the activities to genuinely apply high-level standards of work safety and health (K3).
"It is vital to ensure that everything is in accordance with the applicable K3 requirements, considering that the smelter industry wields a high risk of danger. We need to continue to improve compliance with K3 procedures and standards," she stressed.
She noted that central and provincial supervisory teams would collaborate not only to conduct supervision but also to provide guidance to industry stakeholders to adopt applicable labor norms, including those related to K3 standards.
Rumondang mourned the deadly accident and affirmed that all injured victims and families of the deceased will be assisted through the government's employment social security program.
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Translator: Zubi M, Tegar Nurfitra Putra Rofian
Editor: Anton Santoso
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