Hope and Reality of Safety

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Monday, 11 April, 2022

History of Safety

Judging from the history of safety at the workplace which began to take a large number of fatalities, it happen during the transition era between Industry 1.0 and Industry 2.0. Some industries began to realize the need to take appropriate steps for the safety of workers, and it was agreed upon globally in 1970. Therefore, Law No. 1 of 1970 was issued and roll-out by the Government of Indonesia.

The greatest history of occupational health & safety accidents occurred during the construction of the Panama Canal, according to United States Government records 25,000 people died during the construction of the Panama Canal.

1930 - 1960 became a milestone for the industrial revolution and a milestone in the development of the global automotive industry. 1930 – 1950 was an era where traffic was minimally regulated and the number of road traffic accidents increased, whereas the automotive population grew. 1959, the 3-point seatbelt (V-Type seatbelt) was invented by Nils Bohlin of Volvo.

In Indonesia, traffic regulations were first known as Staatsblad 1933 number 68, then changed to Staatsblad 1940 number 72, then changed to Law number 7 of 1951, and today is Law number 22 of 2009 supported by PP number 37 of 2017 concerning Road Safety and Transportation.

Looking at the history above, in terms of regulations, the Indonesian government in the early days of the enactment of safety regulations, both workplace safety and traffic safety following global industrial developments.

After that, many regulations regarding work safety were left behind by the times and technology.

The Hazard Control Hierarchy:

1.     Elimination

2.     Substitution

3.     Design

4.     Administration

5.     Personal Protective Equipment

Same with Road Safety:

1.     The person behind the steering wheel

2.     The Vehicle itself

3.     The Road

4.     Energy (Fuel Oil or Electricity)

5.     Regulation

So all the hierarchies mentioned above must be included in every element for Road safety elements.

Analysis of traffic accidents, where the accident location occurred, when traffic accidents occurred, and how these accidents can have happened are important. This analysis should be the foundation for implementing regulations and revising the regulations in the future.

Road Safety First

In 2004, WHO released data, that 1.2 million people died and more than 50 million people were injured in accidents every year around the world. In Indonesia itself, the rate of traffic accidents began to rise around 2005, with the existence of a credit policy for motorized vehicle ownership and supported by Indonesia's GDP of 5.69% (the highest after 7 years of the 1998 economic crisis).

Based on vehicle wholesales data from 2005 – 2011 there was an increase in wholesale numbers which then stable at over 7 million vehicles per year until 2019.

Looking at the pillars of WHO – Decade of Action for traffic safety

1.     Road Safety Management

2.     Safe Road & mobility

3.     Safer vehicles

4.     Safer Road User

5.     Post-Crash Response

The speed of the vehicle numbers growth on the road is not balanced with improvements to the pillars mentioned above and the development of the new road.

Thus, the culture of prioritizing road safety is not in line with the increasing population of vehicles.

Globally, everyone is participating in the WHO – Decade of Action efforts to reduce the number of traffic accidents.

Reality

Today, with all the existing regulations, new roads, and improving road facilities, traffic accidents still happen.

Many studies were have been carried out by the Ministry of Transportation, Universities, and the World Financial Agency conducted to assess the road traffic accidents in Indonesia, which can be drawn from the following results:

1.     Safety driving culture, influenced by Education & economic level

2.     Emotional level is influenced by economic burden, workload, and traffic jams

3.     Vehicle condition due to lack of maintenance and incorrect modifications

4.     Lifestyle.

5.     Vehicle trends.

This has become the same issue across Indonesia.

Therefore, given the reality that the road traffic accident is still happening on the road, we need a program that can cover all regions and all age demographics of traffic users.