The Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia (FKM UI) inaugurated the Occupational Safety and Health Center of Excellence (OSH CoE), on Tuesday (14/2), at Health Sciences Cluster (RIK) UI Building, Depok Campus. OSH CoE is the result of a collaboration between FKM UI and the Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) Forum of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Construction. This project is funded by Matching Fund Kedaireka Grant which was launched by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).
OSH CoE is a center for education, training, and research on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) which provides benefits not only to FKM UI and the QHSE Forum of BUMN Construction but also to the public. From this collaboration, 22 IPRs have been produced consisting of 19 OSH Modules, 3 educational figures, as well as workshops on OSH, including the ongoing international conference activity.
Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris hopes that OSH CoE FKM UI can become a forum for scientific fields because university acts as a center of knowledge. UI with its ongoing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) program shares knowledge and provides the widest possible learning opportunities not only for UI students but for all Indonesian people. The presence of OSH CoE FKM UI is expected to support this educational expansion program.
“This Center of Excellence should not become a Center of Emptiness. We have to start from what was not there to make them exist. It’s a challenge. Moreover, this is supported by partners from the industry such as the QHSE Forum of BUMN Construction. This definitely should be a motivation for us to utilize and develop all the activities in this CoE. With this synergy, the learning provided by UI lecturers and researchers can be combined with experiences from industrial partners,” said Prof. Harris.
The background to the development of the OSH CoE is that there are various issues related to occupational health which are of concern to academics. OSH CoE was established to prevent and reduce occupational accidents and diseases; promote and carry out occupational health and safety research; conduct evidence-based occupational medical supervision; develop and manage an integrated management system to improve productivity, organizational performance, and sustainability; and build national and regional capacities for occupational health and safety.
Dean of FKM UI Prof. dr. Mondastri Korib Sudaryo, M.S., D.Sc on that occasion said that OSH CoE could become a flagship program at FKM UI which would advance knowledge, skills, and implementation of OSH knowledge. OSH CoE activities cover the areas of education, training, and research. It is hoped that the existence of the OSH CoE will become a pioneer in arousing the enthusiasm of academics in the FKM environment and academics throughout the UI environment.
The importance of collaboration with academics was also mentioned by the Head of the QHSE Forum of BUMN Construction Subkhan, S.T., M.M. He realizes that the industry will never be optimal in operating based practice in the field without support from universities, especially in terms of science and assistance which are fully supported both in performance improvement and ongoing research.
“With this OSH CoE, we hope there will be active collaboration in the future in the form of forums, projects, and activities for UI students and non-UI students. Hopefully, the QHSE Forum will always be able to synergize even better to support effective collaboration between industry and education through the OSH CoE at FKM UI. We also hope that there will be a specific class for the Master’s program at FKM related to construction safety or its derivatives for those in based practice, so they can pursue further education at UI,” said Subkhan.
