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August,
2000
LOHP
Staff Train Indonesian
Safety Activists
Four
class participants map out an Indonesian garment plant. They draw
the plant layout, including cutting, stitching and sewing, labeling,
and quality control areas. Then they use different colors to identify
various hazards. They notice problems with crowding in the aisles,
poor ergonomic design, and hazardous chemicals used to remove
spots from soiled garments.
In June, 2000, LOHP staff members Betty Szudy and Diane Bush conducted
a four-day training class in Jakarta, Indonesia for 25 Indonesian
workplace safety activists.
Indonesia
has a rapidly industrializing economy. As in many Asian nations,
a substantial part of the workforce is now employed in large factories
run by transnational corporations. Due to transnationals, textiles
and shoes are now major Indonesian exports.
Transnationals
account for two-thirds of industrial growth in the developing world.
Labor and human rights groups around the world have expressed concern
about working conditions in third-world transnational facilities.
The
LOHP trainers teamed up with co-instructors Garrett Brown from the
Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network, Dara O'Rourke from
MIT, and Melody Kemp, an Australian occupational health specialist
who has lived and worked in Indonesia. This team worked with an
Indonesian workers' rights group called LIPS (Lembaga Informasi
Perburuhan). Together they designed and translated training materials,
and located a training site. Preparation for the training also included
a written needs assessment and a focus group discussion with the
future trainees.
Trainees
were drawn from six Indonesian trade unions and several NGOs (non-governmental
organizations). The NGOs included workers' rights, human rights,
women's rights, and legal support groups. The project was funded
by a two-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation to build health
and safety knowledge and skills among grassroots workers and community
groups in Indonesia and southern China.
The
training sought to build participants' capacity to identify, evaluate,
and develop action plans to correct workplace hazards.
Hands-On Exercises
The
training was a tremendous success. Over the first two days, the
group did a number of participatory exercises, ranging from a "hazard
hunt" to practice in using industrial hygiene equipment. They
learned about specific chemical hazards by reading factsheets and
by marking "target organ" T–shirts to show the short
and long-term effects of chemical exposure on various parts of the
body. They also created a mock assembly line (with participants
playing supervisors and workers) to demonstrate the stressful effects
of speed-up.
On
the third day, participants and instructors did a "walkaround"
inspection of four departments at a 7800-worker factory called Pratama,
located outside Jakarta. The Pratama factory is a Korean-owned facility
that produces shoes exclusively for Nike. During the walkaround,
participants interviewed workers and supervisors, monitored noise
levels, evaluated ergonomics problems, and used smoke tubes to check
ventilation systems.
On
the final day, small groups of participants created hazard maps
and written summaries of particular departments of the plant. They
reported on numerous health and safety problems, including chemical
and reproductive hazards and sexual harassment. Groups then offered
their recommendations for improvement.
A
lively debate was held, facilitated by LIPS coordinator Fauzi Abdullah,
about the pros and cons of doing this kind of walkaround inspection.
Had the plant cleaned up because they knew we were coming? Would
workers be disciplined for talking with the various inspection teams?
In
the end, most of the group felt that the walkaround inspection was
one of the most beneficial aspects of the training. Participants
believed it was better to have local Indonesian activists do this
kind of inspection than to rely on the companies' own safety staff
or auditing firms like Price Waterhouse (recently hired by some
of these companies to do safety monitoring).
For
more information
about the Indonesia project, contact Betty
Szudy or Diane Bush at LOHP. Phone (510) 642-5507. E-mail bszudy@berkeley.edu
or dbush@berkeley.edu.
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