Our impact, their voices

Occupational safety and health enhance the business resilience of Indonesian SMEs

The risk assessment service provided by the ILO’s Enhancing COVID-19 Prevention at and through Workplaces has helped Indonesia small- and medium-sized enterprises survive the pandemic. Two resilient businesswomen shared their survival journeys.

Article | 10 October 2022
Yuni Lestari, an owner of Karuniasari Catering in Yogyakarta
Yuni Lestari, an owner of Karuniasari Catering in Yogyakarta, is busy preparing orders. Assisted by her employees, she places the dishes one by one on the boxes. She also ensures that the working conditions are sterilized, and her employees apply the health protocols.

The COVID-19 pandemic has harshly affected small and medium businesses (SMEs) like Yuni’s catering business. Trying to save her business, Yuni looked for assistance at the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) Yogyakarta where she has registered as a member.

OSH is the key to sustaining my business. OSH is indeed an investment."

Yuni Lestari, an owner of Karuniasari Catering in Yogyakarta
She was informed about the risk assessment service that is provided for free by the ILO through its Enhancing COVID-19 Prevention at and through Workplaces project. With no hesitation, she decided to participate.

She admitted that, in the beginning, it was a challenge for her to understand the principles and the importance of occupational safety and health (OSH). “However, with constant exposure to OSH information and education, I become more aware and get used to working with health protocols, to care for each other and remind each other for our safety,” she said.

She also admitted that she thought OSH elements that she had to follow as a business cost. Yet, when she saw the results that she gained after implementing OSH standards, she had a changed mindset.



“OSH is the key to sustaining my business. OSH is indeed an investment,” Yuni exclaimed.

As a result, with a new feeling of confidence about the quality and hygiene of her catering, her business started to blossom again. She started receiving large orders for self-isolation patients. The business continues to run well with regular orders.

“After we implement health protocols, we get orders two or three times a week,” she said.

Similarly in Bali, Maria Satiaputri, an owner of Spa Factory Bali, began to lose orders when the pandemic hit. As a business that focuses on spa and body treatment products for the domestic and international market since 2002, the pandemic drastically reduced production and orders.



“I do not want to linger. I realized that I have to adapt to this condition, including developing innovation for working procedures,” Maria said, refusing to give up.

OSH not only ensures the safety of our main asset, but also guarantees the quality of our products."

Maria Satiaputri, an owner of Spa Factory Bali
As one of the participating companies of ILO’s Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE), she has learnt and applied OSH principles. However, the pandemic brought new challenges. Thus, when she learnt about the ILO’s risk assessment service, she jumped at the opportunity.

“Previously, we only implement OSH for production tasks. The risk assessment made me realize that OSH should also be implemented in the office,” she shared. “I also realize that we need to prioritize human capital as the main asset of the company. Thus, we need to apply a comprehensive OSH management system, not partially.”

Prioritizing the human capital is also in line with the business nature of Spa Factory Bali. “Our industry is labour intensive. So, we do not use automation such as machines as we always handcraft our cosmetic products. It means that our main asset is our workers, not machines,” she exclaimed.

She also echoed the same message about the importance of OSH.

“OSH is an investment because it has a direct impact on the safety of workers and this, of course, reduces the factor of accidents that may occur in the workplace. In addition, OSH not only ensures the safety of our main asset, but also guarantees the quality of our products,” Maria concluded.