The presence of the Environmental Occupational Safety and Health (K3L) Division at Universitas Brawijaya shows that the importance of mitigating efforts towards potential safety risks in the tertiary sector is not just a program discourse or internal outreach, but also requires a long-term commitment and sustainable professionalism. The K3L Division has an important role in protecting the campus environment through implementing occupational safety empowerment and the health of the academic community. This is realized in a joint agreement through the signing of K3L commitment to create “zero accident” security within Brawijaya. This signing was carried out by university officials starting from the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, Board of Trustees, Board of Professors, Faculty Deans to all related divisions/business entities, Friday (14/6).
Prof. Widodo S.Si, M.Si, Ph.D, Med.Sc as UB Chancellor said that the signing of K3L was a step for the university to align perceptions and unite shared commitments, where campus residents increasingly appreciate and understand how to maintain a healthy and comfortable environment when doing daily activities. “Therefore, it is hoped that this commitment can become a positive culture, building the mindset of the academic community that by upholding K3L we can respect the right to live as modern individuals, starting from cleanliness, health to the safety of UB environment,” he said.
There are several supporting facilities that will synergize with UB’s K3L, such as ambulances and fire engines, standard disaster prevention equipment such as fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers which generally must be available in every campus building. In addition, handling laboratory waste and health facilities is a concern for K3L since it also has risks and dangers, plus smoking activities in the UB environment require gradual monitoring from the division. Environmental problems on campus are easy to encounter because various activities carried out by humans can cause environmental waste, for example awareness regarding waste, the differentiation of waste categories such as plastic, organic and inorganic is sometimes still not implemented properly. Then the Green Open Space environment has met sanitation or not, considering that UB campus is also surrounded by open green spaces which need to be kept clean together. On the other hand, communication relationships between leaders and all stakeholders also need to be considered so that stress management can be kept as low as possible. This cannot be underestimated because it is closely related to mental health which can affect performance and productivity.
Head of UB K3L Division, Prof. Dr. Ir. Qomariyatus Sholihah M.Kes added that the K3L workshops have been carried out to create awareness of minimizing risks by preventing potential dangers in various activities, both indoor and outdoor. She hopes that all UB residents will take the initiative to implement K3L with civilizing cultural steps, even from the smallest things. “There needs to be discipline in implementing occupational safety and health, both in management systems, planning, organizing, actuating, controlling and monitoring. K3L has created standard operational procedures which will later be used as a guide to minimize the occurrence of accidents and unwanted disaster situations. Therefore, we also held training demonstrations on handling first aid in accidents as a form of readiness for our commitment to the university,” he concluded. [UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
