Thursdays have become an important day for Fadllil Kaafi, 27 years old, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia in February 2020. The youngest member of the Indonesian Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Council (DK3N) under the Ministry of Manpower has been managing and organizing a weekly online interactive talkshow on issues related to OSH and COVID-19 every Thursday.

The interactive talkshow titled “Hangout Online with DK3N” or also known as GO DK3N has been livestreamed since end of March, reaching out to young Indonesians. The participation of Indonesian youth in taking necessary steps to protect themselves and their families, support their communities and prevent the spread of the outbreak is crucial. About half of the 130 million population is under the age of 30.

“When the outbreak just started, together with senior members of DK3N, we were thinking out loud what we could do to help mitigating the spread of the COVID-19,” said Fadllil. “What was the best way to reach out to young people and empower them? Of course, social media.”

Engaging young people to prevent the spread of COVID-19

OSH is not a new issue for Fadllil. It was his university major when he got selected to attend the ILO’s SafeYouth@Work Congress during the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Singapore in 2017 along with 124 other youth champions from 29 countries around the world.

As an OSH youth champion, he has been active raising youth awareness on the issue of safety and health at work, including through an online OSH platform and a game board OSHNopoly.

When he started to work at DK3N last January 2020, he launched an initiative using digital platforms and social media to engage young people on the issue of safety and health at work.

“I was nervous because this was also the first initiative from DK3N to engage young people. The organization was considered a formal governmental institution that mostly work with companies, unions, government institutions, experts and so forth,” he said.

On the day of the first interactive talkshow, the responses were beyond his expectation. More than 170 young participants registered with more than 300 views. “During the question and answer session, they were enthusiasts and stayed until the end of the session. Our hard work and days of working late really paid off,” told Fadllil who has been managing and organizing the talkshows from his home due to the lockdown.

Since then, the interactive talkshows live every Thursday, presenting various speakers from OSH experts and safety and health officers. The topics raised also varies from myths and facts of COVID-19, practical information about disinfectant and sterilization as well as the roles of youth in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The talkshow also focussed on how to work effectively and safely in the construction sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the construction sector employs more than 8 million workers, a large proportion of whom are young workers.

After four weeks, GO DK3N has reached about 3000 viewers. And the number is increasing

Recognizing the important role of youth

“We need more young people involved in OSH related issues and be part of the organization like DK3N. Young people’s inspirational vision can bring innovative ideas on how to better promote OSH and reach out to wider audiences using technology, particularly during a crisis like this,” said Dr Ghazmahadi, Director of OSH Inspection of the Ministry of Manpower.

He added that the involvement of young people could further encourage other youth to apply OSH practices from an early age. “As a result, they will have a good OSH awareness when entering the world of work and, in turn, can promote the culture of prevention at the workplace.”

Similarly Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, appraised the commitment shown by Fadlil as one of the ILO’s OSH youth champions to consistently promoting OSH related issues to Indonesian young people and the public at large.

“Information and knowledge are key to eliminate the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to Fadllil work more young people protect themselves and their families, and contribute to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.,” she stated.

Meanwhile, in the midst of his weekly programme, Fadllil who is now finishing his graduate study has a bigger goal: “I just hope that culture of prevention will be part of youth’s daily culture and OSH is part of our every day’s routines as we tend to take actions only after bad incidents or accidents occur,” he concluded.