On Wednesday 2 October 2024 the Pagedangan police said that part of a flyover under construction on Jalan Raya Cicalengka, Pagedangan District, Tangerang Regency, had collapsed while workers were on the job. According to the police, a barrier section of the flyover suddenly gave way. One worker died after falling from height at the collapsed section, while two other workers standing directly below the flyover were struck by debris and were being treated in critical condition. The police said they were still investigating the cause, including possible negligence or procedural error, and were questioning witnesses (Aprilianti, 2024).
At the time of writing we have found no official investigation report on the event, so we do not speculate about its cause. What can be examined now is a broader question: when people work at the edge of a tall structure and others work beneath them, which protection can be relied on most? This article compares the four layers of fall protection recognised in Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 9 of 2016 on occupational safety and health in work at height.
Comparison Criteria
We use four criteria: whether the protection works without the worker having to act, whether it prevents a fall or only arrests it, whether it also protects other people, and what the regulation requires. Guidance from Britain's Health and Safety Executive asks employers to consider collective protection, equipment that does not require the person at height to act for it to work, before personal protection (Health and Safety Executive [HSE], 2014). A review of 75 studies on falls from height in construction likewise found that the factors most often linked to falls go beyond individual behaviour to risky activities, site conditions, organisational characteristics, scaffolds and ladders, and weather (Nadhim et al., 2016).
Guardrails
Permenaker 9/2016 puts walls, parapets or guardrails first among measures to prevent falls from permanent working floors (Article 11(1)). Collective fall prevention must be at least 950 millimetres high, withstand at least 0.9 kilonewtons, have vertical gaps of no more than 470 millimetres, and include toeboards to stop objects falling (Article 24) (Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan [Kemnaker], 2016).
The strength of a guardrail is that it is passive and protects everyone at that edge, while the toeboard also protects people below. Its weakness is that it has to be planned together with the temporary works, and it is only as strong as the structure it is fixed to.
Nets and Cushions
Where a fall cannot be fully prevented, its consequences can be reduced with collective fall arrest in the form of nets or cushions (Article 11(2)) (Kemnaker, 2016). HSE also lists safety nets and soft landing systems as collective measures that minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, and mesh on scaffolds to keep materials from falling (HSE, 2014). A net protects several workers at once, but it needs anchorage, clear space beneath, and installation by a competent person.
Work Restraint
Where collective fall prevention is not available, workers must use personal fall prevention consisting of a full body harness and a work restraint lanyard (Article 25), with a lanyard no longer than the distance from the anchor to the edge (Article 11(1)(c)) (Kemnaker, 2016). The worker is kept from reaching the edge, so there is no fall force to absorb. The weakness is reliance on a suitable anchor and on the worker using the system correctly.
Personal Fall Arrest
For temporary working floors, Article 12 names self-retracting lanyards or twin lanyards with hooks and shock absorbers. Users of self-retracting lanyards must ensure a safe fall distance and swing, and twin lanyard hooks must be anchored above head height (Kemnaker, 2016). This layer catches the worker after the fall, so it needs a rescue plan. Article 9 requires a written emergency plan that lists the workers who will rescue a person at height and the equipment provided (Kemnaker, 2016).
People Below
Fall protection is incomplete without protecting people underneath. Permenaker 9/2016 requires the work area to be restricted in three zone categories (Article 7), requires employers to ensure that no falling object can cause injury, and limits what a worker carries on the body to 5 kilograms excluding PPE (Article 8) (Kemnaker, 2016). HSE recommends exclusion zones where falling objects cannot be fully prevented (HSE, 2014).
Weighing the Options
The order in Permenaker 9/2016 and in HSE guidance is consistent: collective prevention first, then nets, then personal protection, with a rescue plan for the last layer. In our view the hardest stage on flyovers and bridges is when the permanent barrier has not yet been installed or is being installed. That is when the edge is most exposed, and it is not unusual for others to be working directly below. The mix of temporary guardrails, nets, engineered anchor points and an exclusion zone underneath belongs in the written work method rather than in a decision made on the day. The evidence we cite does not compare the four layers quantitatively, so this order rests on control principles and regulation rather than field test data.
How Nusa Safety Helps
Nusa Safety runs working at height training together with licensed PJK3 partners, and can help project teams plan fall protection layers and exclusion zones through its Risk Assessment and JSA Workshop.
This article is general information and not legal or professional advice for any specific case.
References
- Aprilianti, M. A. (2024, October 2). Proyek jalan layang di Pagedangan roboh, seorang pekerja tewas [Flyover project in Pagedangan collapses, one worker killed]. IDN Times Banten. https://banten.idntimes.com/news/banten/proyek-jalan-layang-di-pagedangan-roboh-seorang-pekerja-tewas-00-5f5kb-nnhjjd
- Health and Safety Executive. (2014). Working at height: A brief guide (INDG401 rev2). HSE. https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf
- Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan Republik Indonesia. (2016). Peraturan Menteri Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 9 Tahun 2016 tentang Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Kerja dalam Pekerjaan pada Ketinggian [Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 9 of 2016 on occupational safety and health in work at height]. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/146109/permenaker-no-9-tahun-2016
- Nadhim, E. A., Hon, C., Xia, B., Stewart, I., & Fang, D. (2016). Falls from height in the construction industry: A critical review of the scientific literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(7), 638. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13070638
