As Indonesia's nickel industry grows stronger and downstreaming gains momentum, the need to develop and improve nickel smelter operating standards continues to increase. Harita Nickel, as an integrated nickel mining and processing company, emphasizes that national industrial growth must be accompanied by increasingly holistic occupational safety standards to ensure sustainable downstreaming.
This message was conveyed by Supriyanto Suwarno, Harita Nickel’s Operational Health and Safety (OHS) & Management System Manager, during an exclusive discussion among nickel industry stakeholders held by the Indonesian Nickel Industry Forum (FINI) together with DSS Sustainable Solutions (dss+).
Through his presentation at the event titled "Transforming Indonesia's Smelting Industry," Supriyanto explained that the measures implemented by Harita Nickel to strengthen safety standards at the company's smelter refer to applicable regulations and reinforce a risk-based approach at the operational level.
"We implement a safety system that not only focuses on compliance, but also on a risk-based approach and strengthening the overall process. With increasingly complex smelter technology, safety must be managed in a measurable and comprehensive manner," he explained.
He added that safety reinforcement is built based on an integrated cross-functional OHS framework within the organization and involves stakeholders. Harita Nickel's OHS program covers three main aspects, namely operational activities, community, and stakeholders.
"The scope of our OHS program not only covers risk control in operational areas, but also the health and safety of the surrounding community, emergency management, and collaboration with stakeholders to maintain safety standards throughout the company's ecosystem," said Supriyanto.
Supriyanto concluded his presentation by emphasizing that the success of the smelter industry in Indonesia is highly dependent on strong partnerships and shared commitment among industry players, the government, industry associations, academics, the community, and global partners.
"Going forward, synergy with all stakeholders will be key in developing a well-standardized OHS framework. This begins with openness to knowledge sharing, strengthening safety regulations, and building local competencies so that Indonesia's smelter industry can grow with higher standards that are relevant to global needs," he concluded.