Reviewing a Project Speed-Up

On 13 May 2026, Indonesia's Ministry of Public Works (PU) said construction of the Sekolah Rakyat Phase II boarding schools was being accelerated towards a completion target of 20 June 2026. As of 7 May 2026, average physical progress stood at 45.91 percent, up from 40.27 percent on 1 May 2026, and the construction contracts had been adjusted to the target (ANTARA, 2026a). The programme covers 104 sites in 32 provinces and, as of 7 May 2026, involved 59,541 workers (ANTARA, 2026b).

The acceleration measures listed include building all blocks in parallel, adding workers, overtime, faster material mobilisation and extra equipment such as cranes, piling rigs, excavators and mobile batching plants, along with method changes such as structural steel, metal deck, wire mesh and hollow core floor slabs (ANTARA, 2026a). Each of these is normal project management. From a safety point of view, each is also a change, and changes need to be assessed before they are made. This article sets out one simple way to do that.

The Basis

Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 10 of 2021 on construction safety management system guidelines requires the construction safety plan (RKK) to be adjusted to changes in scope and conditions during execution, with the client's approval. The same regulation requires a construction safety analysis (AKK) for special work, including lifting, night work, work at height above 1.80 metres and work on scaffolding, and requires that analysis to be reviewed when the work method, situation, safeguards or workforce change (Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat [Kementerian PUPR], 2021).

Research explains why that review matters. An analysis of a US national cohort found that long working hours and irregular schedules were significantly associated with a higher work-related injury rate among construction workers after controlling for confounders (Dong, 2005). A system dynamics model built from one project linked production pressure with workers' safety perceptions, training, supervision and crew size, and identified schedule delays and rework as critical factors in accident occurrence (Han et al., 2014). In Padang, researchers found that contractors commonly add overtime to recover delays, that productivity during overtime was close to that in normal hours, and that lack of rest time was among the influential factors (Yunita & Hidayat, 2024).

Six Review Steps

An acceleration safety review can be built in six steps and carried out before the acceleration plan is approved:

• List the changes. Write each acceleration measure as one line: night shift, overtime, extra crews, extra equipment and new methods.
• Measure the load. For each change, calculate hours per worker per week, consecutive days without a rest day, the ratio of new workers to supervisors and the number of crews working in the same zone.
• Look for new hazards. Night shifts bring lighting problems and drowsiness, parallel work brings objects falling from upper floors onto crews below, extra crews bring workers who do not know the site, and new methods demand skills the crews may not yet have.
• Set limits and controls, such as caps on working hours and rest breaks, lifting windows separated from other work zones, exclusion zones under lifts, day-one inductions and extra field supervisors.
• Update the documents. Put the results into the RKK and AKK and obtain the client's approval (Kementerian PUPR, 2021).
• Monitor weekly. Track actual overtime, near-miss reports, inspection findings and rework. A rise in rework is worth reading as a sign of schedule pressure (Han et al., 2014).

A Worked Example

As an illustration, not data from any real project, suppose a two-storey school building must finish three weeks early. The contractor's first plan is to add a night shift for finishing work and to erect the steel roof frame while painters work on the floor below. Listing the changes brings out three new hazards: lifting roof trusses over the painting crew, lighting and drowsiness on the night shift, and extra tradespeople who have not been inducted.

The review then produces concrete decisions: a lifting window when the lower floor is cleared, extra lighting and rotation on the night shift, a written overtime cap and a short induction before new workers start. Any part of the plan whose risk cannot be controlled, such as lifting over an area that cannot be cleared, goes back to the project manager to be rescheduled.

Reading the Result

In our view, the value of this method lies in when it is used rather than in the form itself. A review written after the night shift has started only records risks already taken. In a programme with many sites pushed at the same time, acceleration decisions are often made at programme level while the risk appears at crew level. The findings therefore need to travel back up to the decision makers, including a proposal to move the target where the risk cannot be controlled.

The evidence we rely on has limits. Dong's (2005) data come from a US cohort, the model of Han et al. (2014) was built from a single project, and the study by Yunita and Hidayat (2024) is a small local study focused on productivity. We have not found open data on accidents in accelerated programmes in Indonesia that could serve as a comparison.

How Nusa Safety Helps

Nusa Safety helps project teams build change risk reviews and update their AKK through the risk assessment and JSA workshop, checks how they are applied on site through the HSE and CSMS audit, and prepares supervisors and managers through HSE leadership for line management. To discuss the needs of a specific project, please contact the Nusa Safety team.

This article is general information, not legal or professional advice for any specific case.

References

1. ANTARA. (2026a, May 13). PU percepat pembangunan Sekolah Rakyat Tahap II di berbagai daerah [Public Works Ministry accelerates Sekolah Rakyat Phase II construction across regions]. ANTARA. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/5565807/pu-percepat-pembangunan-sekolah-rakyat-tahap-ii-di-berbagai-daerah
2. ANTARA. (2026b, May 13). PU: Pembangunan Sekolah Rakyat menyerap puluhan ribu tenaga kerja [Public Works Ministry: Sekolah Rakyat construction employs tens of thousands of workers]. ANTARA. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/5565855/pu-pembangunan-sekolah-rakyat-menyerap-puluhan-ribu-tenaga-kerja
3. Dong, X. (2005). Long workhours, work scheduling and work-related injuries among construction workers in the United States. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 31(5), 329-335. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.915
4. Han, S., Saba, F., Lee, S., Mohamed, Y., & Peña-Mora, F. (2014). Toward an understanding of the impact of production pressure on safety performance in construction operations. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 68, 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.10.007
5. Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat. (2021). Peraturan Menteri Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat Nomor 10 Tahun 2021 tentang Pedoman Sistem Manajemen Keselamatan Konstruksi [Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 10 of 2021 on construction safety management system guidelines]. https://pasal.id/peraturan/permen/permen-pupr-no-10-tahun-2021
6. Yunita, A., & Hidayat, B. (2024). Perbandingan produktivitas tenaga kerja proyek konstruksi saat jam kerja normal dan lembur di Kota Padang [Comparison of construction labour productivity during normal and overtime hours in Padang]. Jurnal Bangunan, Konstruksi & Desain, 2(3), 180-190. https://doi.org/10.25077/jbkd.2.3.180-190.2024