Background

Indonesia, with a population of 255 million, is the fourth most populated country in the world. The country has a young population: roughly half of the total population is below thirty years of age. The country is shifting away from an economy dominated by the agricultural sector, towards one with a greater share of activities within the industrial and services sectors. This trend is driving rapid urbanization and growth in the construction sector. However, 90 percent of those working in the construction sector are employed as labourers and many work under casual contracts.

While there is an absence of comprehensive occupational safety and health (OSH) data, indications exist that the majority of workplace accidents occur in construction. Therefore, efforts are needed to strengthen the functioning of urban labour markets, to help ensure that workers and employers use their resources to promote and respect worker safety and health requirements, particularly for young workers, who suffer high rates of workplace injury and disease.

The strategy of the SafeYouth@Work Project is founded in the ILO’s systems approach to promoting OSH prevention, which in turn is based on compliance with international labour standards (ILS). ILS on OSH provide essential tools for the tripartite (governments, employers and workers) and their representative organizations to establish sound prevention, reporting and inspection practices.

ILS on OSH also embody the key principles, provisions and technical guidance necessary to establish, implement and manage OSH systems. The SafeYouth@Work Project in Indonesia applies this overall systems approach with a focus on the expanding construction sector and young workers.

On August 31st, 2015, Indonesia ratified ILO Convention No. 187 “Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health” (2006). Consequently, the country is keen to implement and update the key components of the Convention, namely a national OSH profile, policy and programme, including with content relevant to young workers. The SafeYouth@Work provided support for the Government of Indonesia di formulating its first report to the ILO on ILO convention No.187 in 2017. Building from its first report to the ILO, the government continues to draft the national OSH Profile.

The project is also committed to continue its support to the Ministry of Manpower in leading a tripartite plus consultation process with a view to update the national OSH Profile, inclusing with content relevant ot young workers and employers. In this regard, the project will support the tripartite plus consultation on the development of the national OSH Profile.

Objective and main output

In line with the Outcome 1 of the project on comprehensive, relevant and quality data and information on OSH for young workers are available for effective use, the project will implement the activities 1.1.1 under its work plan to update national Osh instruments including with specific information and reference on OSH for young workers (Output 1.1). While the government has developed its first draft of the Indonesia Osh Profile, the project will assist in the tripartite plus consultation workshop to gather more information and disseminate the draft among the relevant stakeholders. This consultation workshop aims to determine the accuracy of data gathered and identify additional data required to provide a better picture of OSH implementation and compliance. The draft will undergo a series of review and subsequent revision before finalized and disseminated in a Dissemination Workshop.