Pandemic has still become the most actual problem in the world, including Indonesia. Curative service regarding the pandemic would never be enough to stop its transmission, primarily when it happens to workers. It requires collective awareness from each individual, such as by sounding promotion and prevention. “This aims to protect everyone in the working environment. Better understanding will lead us to better practice that possibly can protect us outside the working environment as well,” said Ova Emilia in the Webinar entitled The Effectiveness of Environmental Engineering in Establishing a Healthy Campus in the New Adaptation Era on Wednesday (5/5).
Ova also believed that a condition of a healthy working environment could influence someone’s productivity up to 40 percent. Besides, an unhealthy working environment such as discrimination, bullying, and abuse can also result in prolonged stress. “We’ve got a lot of homework to do to create a healthy working environment, one of which is to prevent Covid transmission,” she added.
According to the Director of Occupational Health and Sports, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, dr. Riskiyana Sukandhi Putra, M. Kes., said about 127 workers in Indonesia with 133 million people are in the productive age category. The problem faced by workers other than degenerative diseases is the long-lasting pandemic condition. Therefore, actions to promote prevention concerning pandemics are necessary. “A big possibility of transmission could happen in the workplace. It can highly cause a new Covid-19 cluster. There should be quick and responsive actions to prevent that,” said Ova.
To build awareness, the working institutions should continually and repeatedly promote health information. Moreover, they should also strengthen the 3M principle and conduct a routine Covid-19 detection test. “Pandemic makes us change and adapt to new habits to prioritize safety and health in the working environment,” she concluded.
