Capturing SINCERE in the UG Expansion Work Area
16 September 2022
Article by Anang Dianto - 1st Winner of 2022 SINCERE Article Writing Competition
Randomly, the author conducted interviews (asked directly) with 10 young employees and 10 primary employees in the UG Expansion area about the meaning of SINCERE. Of the 10 young employees, as many as 8 people could answer perfectly correctly, while 2 other employees answered imperfectly. For primary employees, only 5 could answer perfectly, and the remaining 5 responded that they didn't know and answered imperfectly.
Although the interview can not represent the entire population of UG Expansion workers, we can use it as a small portrait for introspection that not all employees understand the message of how important the corporate values included in SINCERE. We must have a common understanding that the SINCERE values are not only for management or supervisors but for all PTFI employees without exception.
How important are corporate values for employees and the company itself? Core value acts as the company's internal compass that provides a clear direction for the company and is the key to determining decisions and policies within the company (Sherman, 2005). So without core values, a company will lose its "internal compass," including employees within the company that will work in a condition without a definite direction.
Let us all understand that our company's value included in SINCERE is very important for the company and its employees!
Safety Portrait
Every Friday at UG Expansion (Central Services Division) is held "Tool Box Meeting with Management" program. So a tool-box meeting held by a crew in the field will be accompanied and attended directly by the management/their representatives. Thus, management can monitor directly whether tool box meetings (as well as the Fatal Risk Management meeting) have been carried out properly and correctly. In addition, this program is held to ensure that safety concerns are discussed at the managerial to the lowest level. Likewise, the crew at the lowest level can convey constructive criticism and suggestions regarding safety directly to the management/their representative.
There's another program that's been running quite well at the UG Expansion, namely the Focused Audit held by the Safety Department Central Services. The Safety Division Team conducts weekly Focused Audits on one thing in all Central Services Division work areas, including Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) Audits, Moving Vehicle Audits, Scaffolding Audits at every work area, Lifting Equipment Audits, Hand Tools Audits, etc. This program can map out in detail the conditions of tools, equipment, and also safety compliance in all work areas. Results of the Focused Audit will be sent out to each area owner for follow-up.
A few other programs are running quite well in the UG Expansion environment. However, what's more important than these programs is the employees' awareness that safety is not just a program, not just a target, let alone just a jargon.
Safety is our own need. Consciously and caring about safety means we will always remember without being reminded and will always obey without being ordered!
There are still several challenges regarding safety in UG Expansion, including the low Nearmiss reporting. Although in the last 3 years the number of reports has increased, as many as 32 reports in 2020, 33 reports in 2021, and 45 reports in mid-2022. However, the number is still below expectation when compared to the number of accidents that occurred.
In his book Industrial Accident Prevention, A Scientific Approach (1931), Heinrich states that "In the workplace, for every accident that causes serious injury, there are 29 accidents that cause minor injury and 300 accidents that do not causes injuries which we know as the accident pyramid. Therefore, nearmiss is very important in preventing accidents that cause serious and minor injuries.
There are many reasons why employees are still reluctant to report nearmiss, among them because there is fear that the report could cause the whistleblower to get sanctioned or because they don't know the flow and how to report. Therefore, supervisors need to coach employees regarding nearmiss reporting to raise awareness of how important that report is to conduct an evaluation to prevent accidents that cause injuries or property damage.
Integrity Portrait
In short, we can understand integrity as quoted by the British author C. S. Lewis, "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." Integrity is often considered a value only attached to a leader (supervisor), even though every individual (employees) should have integrity. A simple portrait of an employee's integrity is a matter of compliance. An employee's integrity is tested by seeing whether the employee complies with a rule even though no one is watching. For example, using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the workplace, using seat belts on buses, throwing trash in its place, not asking someone to fill out your attendance, not being lazy while working, etc.
In the UG Expansion, the author observed that several things deserve to be appreciated in the context of the integrity shown by employees, namely the work ethic in completing the KPI Project targets. In general, employees have shown a high work ethic, whether the boss is there or not. It means that employees already have integrity in completing work.
For supervisors, integrity is seen in the field by not throwing away their responsibility. Supervisors must be brave in taking responsibility for both completing work targets and responsibilities outside of work. For example, solving problems between employees, conducting coaching-counseling, and being responsible for the crew's safety.
However, there is still a small portrait of integrity that must be an item for joint introspection in the UG Expansion area, namely dishonesty regarding damage to the company's tools or property. For example, a motor compressor was damaged by fire because it was turned on without protection, but no one acknowledged who operated the motor. Another example was when there was damage on a Light Vehicle's (LV) body, but no one admitted who caused the damage.
Let us show integrity in the work place, that way our work activities will be more blessed!
Commitment Portrait
Commitment can be said as a bond that unites two parties. In the field, commitment value can be seen from many dimension; The subordinates commitment to their superiors, employees to their company, workers to their clients, even a person's commitment to their God can be seen in the workplace.
As a world-class mining company, PT Freeport Indonesia has a strong commitment to the environment and its relation to the Indonesian government in ensuring its employees' safety and welfare. Therefore, let us help our company realize its commitment according to our job descriptions.
What kind of help can we provide to help realize commitment? For example, the author works as an engineer and helps provide drawings and designs according to the rules of applicable laws and regulations. A concrete example of the Shop Equipment building design must be accompanied by the management of Toxic and Hazardous Materials (B3) and Oily Water Separator (OWS). Thus we have helped realize the company's commitment to the environment and the Indonesian government's regulations.
Another example that can be done by employees in the field includes proper B3 material management (paint, thinner, grouting, etc) so as not to pollute the environment, reporting every B3 spill in the workplace, and so on. In the UG Expansion area, several internal focused audits have been carried out to record compliance with the B3 management in the work area/project
Respect Portrait
Undeniably, our company has become a company with diverse employees in terms of ethnic background, language, religion, race, age, and education. The more diverse the backgrounds, the more diverse the way of thinking, perspectives, and communication methods. Thus, the Respect value becomes vital in maintaining harmony in the work area.
At the UG Expansion workplace, there are rarely any conflicts or problems related to employee disputes caused by differences. Differences between employees create a sense of mutual support and complement each other. For example, every Friday, Muslim employees must do their sholat Jum'at, then Christian employees would support by taking over their work for a little while. Vice versa, every Sunday, Christian employees will do their Sunday worship then Muslim employees would help in the same way so that work may continue to run smoothly.
Another portrait of the respect value in the workplace relates to employees' age range. For example, a supervisor who's much younger than several crews they must lead. So far, the conditions have been going well, as long as the young supervisor have successfully shown their capabilities and have a good and wise way of communicating with the older crews.
There are still many portraits of the respect value in the workplace. Our company can be said t have succeeded in fostering respect value among fellow employees. This success in one way is supported by Human Rights training, the provision of a complaint hotline, cultural events on the job site, and also strict sanctions from the company if an employee is proven not to respect differences in the workplace.
Let us as employees maintain this harmonious condition by showing respect!
Excellence Value is our goal!
If we look at PTFI's vision, it clearly states that the company wants to create excellence values. In this competitive global era, we need excellence values to continue trying to be the best. That way, we are required to develop creations and innovations and give the best contribution to society and the environment. We must give small rewards to employees/teams in the workplace to create a competitive environment so each team can show their best performance. That way, we can achieve excellent value together.
If we collect all portraits of the SINCERE values at the workplace, we will get a picture that employees already have awareness and have implemented SINCERE values with their motivations. However, these values are not black and white, so we can't see the boundaries. What's most important to the company is to internalize SINCERE values continuously values to employees so that they will be more embedded and deeply rooted and the company can move in rhythm. Just like a compass, SINCERE must be the base for every decision and policy making so that PTFI can move toward the company's vision.
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