Amid the jungle of concrete skyscrapers and towers where millions of Jakartans earn their livelihoods, there are those who work hard in order to maintain them. These people walk in air, defying death.
By
HARRY SUSILO
·4 minutes read
Amid the jungle of concrete skyscrapers and towers where millions of Jakartans earn their livelihoods, there are those who work hard in order to maintain them. These people walk in air, defying death.
That day, the clock showed that it was 9 a.m. Jakarta time. The sun was rising in the sky. Sarono, 20, was ready with his personal protective equipment (PPE) atop the 29-story building of L’Avenue office and apartment complex in South Jakarta.
After putting on his body harness and helmet, Sarono used a kernmantle rope to prepare for his exterior work. With a 5-liter bucket, a cleaning cloth and a squeegee, he deftly scaled down the high-rise’s outer facade.
Sarono and four of his colleagues are rope access workers of high-rise cleaning service company PT Palmarum. They are used to scaling up and down skyscrapers using ropes.
Many may get chills just from seeing them at work. However, many others may be unaware of their existence.
They face difficult challenges in cleaning hard-to-reach spots. Strong winds, extreme heat and thirst are a daily occurrence for them. They have to adhere to strict safety procedures, as they have families waiting for them back home.
“In extreme cases, like when the building slants too much on one side, I need to withstand [the pain] around my stomach when I’m hanging up there,” said Sarono.
Sarono wiped the sweat on his face while leaning against the high-rise as his partner stood watch at the top of the building, watching the weather and Sarono’s protective gear.
Sarono and his colleagues work six days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sarono and the other PT Palmarum workers have worked at the L’Avenue complex for almost a year.
The skyscrapers in the complex are maintained daily in shifts. A single cleaning job requires five workers working a full month, including bad weather – rain and strong winds – when working is prohibited.
Similar to cleaning skyscrapers, cleaning telecommunication towers also requires the same fearlessness. Apart from fearlessness, workers like Sarono are also required to have special certification for skills and competence.
Jaka Malik 35, an employee at maintenance company PT Adyawinsa, a partner of PT Huawei, said that there was a weeklong mandatory training period to obtain the necessary certificate and license to work on skyscrapers. Sarono and his colleagues confirmed this.
In his work, Jaka climbs the XL Axiata telecommunication towers to routinely check and repair equipment. “I was required to join the training. Without the certificate, I cannot work,” Jaka said on Monday (21/5/2018) on the sidelines of working on the XL Axiata towers in Pasar Baru, Jakarta. The XL Axiata has built 101,000 base tower stations that stand from 30 to 100 meters high.
Work safety for high-rise service workers is a special priority for the government and high-rise service companies. This is especially because the number of work-related accidents remains high.
The Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) data shows 123,041 work accidents with 3,173 fatalities occurred in 2017. This was higher than the 101,367 work accidents with 2,382 fatalities in 2016.
The Manpower Ministry’s director of occupational health and safety standards supervision, Herman Prakoso Hidayat, said that fatalities in high-rise service work contributed to 30 percent of all work-related fatalities in Indonesia. Construction, telecommunications and manufacturing were among the highest contributing sectors of fatalities in high-rise service work.
Poor awareness among workers about wearing proper protective equipment was among the reasons the number of fatalities remains high. On the other hand, high-rise construction was continuously increasing while there is a shortage of experienced workers. Meanwhile, the number of supervisors of high-rise maintenance work remains low, with only 58 supervisors across 16 provinces.
“Work certification and licensing must be a requirement, because these workers’ families are waiting for them to come home safely,” said Herman, referring to Manpower Minister Regulation No. 9/2016 on occupational health and safety in high-rise service work.
Safety is of the utmost priority in high-rise service work.