On Sunday 13 October 2024 Indonesia's Ministry of Health opened a mental health fair in Jakarta as the high point of its World Mental Health Day observance, which falls on 10 October each year. This year's national theme was "Time to prioritise mental health at work". In his opening remarks the ministry's secretary general asked company leaders to pay attention to their staff, including small acknowledgements for good work, and asked workers to notice when a colleague changes, for example by withdrawing or no longer joining shared meals (Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia [Kemenkes], 2024).
The World Health Organization chose the same theme. WHO notes that about 60 percent of the world's population is in work, and that depression and anxiety alone lead to the loss of around 12 billion working days each year (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024). Below are five questions that workplaces often ask after the observance, answered with references.
An OHS Matter?
Yes. Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 5 of 2018 on occupational safety and health in the work environment defines the work environment as the hygiene aspect of a workplace covering physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychological factors. A psychological factor is defined as one that affects workers' activity and arises from interpersonal relationships, roles and responsibilities at work (Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan [Kemnaker], 2018).
Article 24 requires psychological factors to be measured and controlled in workplaces where they are a potential hazard. The listed hazards are role ambiguity, role conflict, qualitative and quantitative work overload, career development, and responsibility for others (Kemnaker, 2018).
Which Controls Apply?
Article 24 states that controls follow a risk assessment and take the form of stress management, including worker selection, placement and training, fitness programmes, counselling, adequate organisational communication, giving workers a voice in decisions, changes to organisational structure or job redesign, and particular reward systems (Kemnaker, 2018).
The list mixes organisational and individual measures. The health ministry's message about acknowledging good work and noticing colleagues who change fits the organisational communication item on that list (Kemenkes, 2024). Recognition cannot, however, replace fixing the workload and role clarity that create the hazard. In our view the organisational ones, such as job redesign and communication, are the most often skipped, because individual programmes are easier to run and to report.
What Is the Evidence?
The WHO guidelines on mental health at work, published in 2022, estimate that about 15 percent of working-age adults have a mental disorder at any point in time, and that depression and anxiety cost the global economy about US$1 trillion a year, mostly through lost productivity. The recommendations cover organisational interventions, manager training, worker training, individual interventions, return to work after mental health absence, and gaining employment (WHO, 2022).
In its 2024 campaign WHO urged employers to train managers to recognise and address workplace stressors, and to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with mental health conditions, such as regular supportive meetings, more frequent breaks, gradual return to tasks and storage for medication (WHO, 2024).
Where Does It Fit?
ISO 45003:2021 gives guidance on managing psychosocial risk within an OH&S management system based on ISO 45001, so that organisations can prevent work-related injury and ill health and promote well-being at work (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 2021). For companies already running SMK3 or ISO 45001, psychosocial risk can be treated like any other hazard: identified, assessed, controlled, monitored and reviewed in the same cycle.
Where to Start?
The following steps are our suggestions, drawn from the references above:
- Map psychological hazards by job using the six categories in Permenaker 5/2018, involving workers and their representatives (Kemnaker, 2018).
- Put the results in the existing OHS risk register rather than a separate file, so they are reviewed alongside other hazards (ISO, 2021).
- Train line managers to notice changes in behaviour, respond by listening and refer to professionals, in line with WHO recommendations and the health ministry's message (Kemenkes, 2024; WHO, 2022).
- Protect confidentiality. Individual mental health data stays with health professionals, while management receives group-level findings to improve how work is organised.
A limitation should be stated. The sources we cite contain no national data on work-related mental disorders in Indonesia, so the size of the problem in a given workplace can only be known by measuring it there.
How Nusa Safety Helps
Nusa Safety can help companies assess work environment factors, including psychological aspects, through its Ergonomics and Work Environment Assessment, and prepare supervisors through HSE leadership training for line management. Nusa Safety does not provide diagnosis or therapy; individual cases are referred to health professionals.
This article is general information and not legal or professional advice for any specific case.
References
- International Organization for Standardization. (2021). Occupational health and safety management: Psychological health and safety at work, guidelines for managing psychosocial risks (ISO Standard No. 45003:2021). https://www.iso.org/standard/64283.html
- Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia. (2024, October 13). Pimpinan perusahaan harus peduli dengan kesehatan jiwa pekerjanya [Company leaders must care about their workers' mental health] [Press release]. https://www.kemkes.go.id/id/pimpinan-perusahaan-harus-peduli-dengan-kesehatan-jiwa-pekerjanya
- Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan Republik Indonesia. (2018). Peraturan Menteri Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 5 Tahun 2018 tentang Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Kerja Lingkungan Kerja [Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 5 of 2018 on occupational safety and health in the work environment]. https://jdih.kemnaker.go.id/peraturan/detail/1546
- World Health Organization. (2022). WHO guidelines on mental health at work. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240053052
- World Health Organization. (2024). World Mental Health Day 2024: Mental health at work. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2024
