On 12 December 2024 the Minister of Manpower issued Decree No. 316 of 2024 on the Guidelines for National Occupational Safety and Health Month 2025. The month runs from 12 January to 12 February 2025 under the main theme "Strengthening Human Resource Capacity to Support the Implementation of the OHS Management System (SMK3) to Raise Productivity". Its first two targets are more companies applying SMK3 and more companies with zero accidents, and its implementation activities include SMK3 audits, workplace environment measurement, workers' health examinations and the handling of work accidents and occupational diseases (Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan [Kemnaker], 2024a).
A week earlier, the ministry cited BPJS Ketenagakerjaan annual reports to say that work accidents kept rising, from 234,371 cases in 2021 to 298,137 in 2022 and 370,747 in 2023 (Kemnaker, 2024b). Those figures form the backdrop to the 2025 theme. This article goes back to the original source: what the numbers show, how to read them and where their limits lie.
The Data Source
The main source is the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan integrated annual report for 2023. It records employment injury (JKK) claims of 234,370 in 2021, 297,725 in 2022 and 370,747 in 2023. Active members in those years numbered 30,660,901, 35,864,017 and 41,560,938. Claims classed as death totalled 6,553, 8,272 and 8,105, and claims for occupational disease in 2023 numbered 1,065 cases (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, 2024).
The ministry's 2023 figure matches the BPJS report, but its 2021 figure differs by 1 case and its 2022 figure by 412. Small gaps like these are normal for claims data that keep being updated, and they are a reason to always state the source and date of any figure used.
What the Numbers Show
From 2021 to 2023, JKK claims rose 58.2 percent while active membership rose 35.6 percent, from about 30.7 million to 41.6 million people. We calculate claims per 1,000 active members at 7.64 in 2021, 8.30 in 2022 and 8.92 in 2023. Fatal claims per 100,000 active members were 21.37, 23.06 and 19.50. These calculations use year-end active membership as the denominator, so the results are rough approximations, not official incidence rates.
Two things stand out. First, part of the rise in claims comes from more workers being covered, yet the rate per member still went up. Second, fatal claims per member were lower in 2023 than in 2021 and 2022. One data point is not enough to call that a falling trend.
The practical lesson is that absolute numbers without a denominator mislead easily, whether they are used to argue that things are getting worse or better. The same holds for a company's own data when its headcount changes from year to year.
How to Read Them
JKK figures are claims data, not a count of all accidents. Workers who are not members, accidents that are never claimed and most informal sector workers fall outside them. The breakdown by claim type has also changed: a still-under-treatment category was introduced in 2022 and covered 79.55 percent of claims in 2023, so recovered cases cannot be compared fairly across years (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, 2024).
The occupational disease figure needs the most care. The International Labour Organization estimates that 2.93 million workers worldwide died from work-related causes in 2019, and 2.6 million of those deaths were due to occupational diseases (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2023). Against that global pattern, the 1,065 occupational disease cases of 2023 equal only about 0.29 percent of that year's JKK claims. In our view, a figure this small more likely signals illness that has not been diagnosed or reported than healthy workplaces.
What Companies Can Do
The 2025 theme puts people at the centre of SMK3. The SMK3 obligation itself applies to companies employing at least 100 workers or with a high hazard potential, under Article 5 of Government Regulation No. 50 of 2012 on the Implementation of OHS Management Systems (Pemerintah Republik Indonesia, 2012). Some steps to prepare before January:
- Calculate internal rates per person-hours worked, not just counts, so that changes in headcount do not mislead.
- Match internal accident records against the company's JKK claims to find unreported incidents.
- Review health examination results and workplace environment measurements for early signs of occupational disease.
- Map the competence of OHS staff and line supervisors against SMK3 needs, then draw up a training plan.
- Plan OHS Month activities that link to the SMK3 work plan, such as an internal audit or workplace environment measurement, not only ceremonies and banners.
How Nusa Safety Helps
Nusa Safety supports companies in building and improving their systems through SMK3 and ISO 45001 implementation and assesses how they work in practice through internal SMK3 audits. To build human capacity, general OHS expert (Ahli K3 Umum) training is delivered together with licensed PJK3 partners.
This article is general information and is not legal or professional advice for any specific case.
References
- BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. (2024). Integrated report 2023: Laporan tahunan terintegrasi BPJS Ketenagakerjaan [2023 integrated annual report]. https://bpjsketenagakerjaan.go.id/assets/uploads/laporan_tahunan/Integrated_Report_2023.pdf
- International Labour Organization. (2023). A call for safer and healthier working environments. ILO. https://www.ilo.org/publications/call-safer-and-healthier-working-environments
- Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan Republik Indonesia. (2024a). Keputusan Menteri Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 316 Tahun 2024 tentang Petunjuk Pelaksanaan Bulan Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Kerja Nasional Tahun 2025 [Minister of Manpower Decree No. 316 of 2024 on guidelines for National OHS Month 2025]. https://jdih.kemnaker.go.id/peraturan/detail/2613/keputusan-menteri-ketenagakerjaan-nomor-316-tahun-2024
- Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan Republik Indonesia. (2024b, December 4). Kecelakan kerja terus meningkat, Kemnaker ajak perusahaan terapkan SMK3 secara konsisten [Work accidents keep rising, ministry urges companies to apply SMK3 consistently]. https://kemnaker.go.id/news/detail/kecelakan-kerja-terus-meningkat-kemnaker-ajak-perusahaan-terapkan-smk3-secara-konsisten
- Pemerintah Republik Indonesia. (2012). Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 50 Tahun 2012 tentang Penerapan Sistem Manajemen Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Kerja [Government Regulation No. 50 of 2012 on the implementation of OHS management systems]. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/5263/pp-no-50-tahun-2012
