By: Admin Peduli Hati Bangsa, 25 Januari 2022
Law No. 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety states that the management/leader of the company is obliged to check the health of the physical or mental (spiritual) condition of the labor through an initial examination for workers who will work, or periodic and special inspections, for workers who have worked. Therefore, the purpose of the health examination of the labor is to protect, and not be used as a tool to harm the workforce.
Therefore, the health examination of the labor must be carried out in a directed and rational manner with the aim of adjusting the workforce to their work, and maintaining the health of the workforce.
The current trend is that many companies/agencies in medical examinations conduct HBsAg testing as a tool for selecting employees to be accepted, where someone with a positive HBsAg is considered unfit to be employed.
Literature studies and consultations with liver disease experts show that:
1. A person with positive HBsAg in their blood does not necessarily suffer from Hepatitis, as long as liver function is normal, a person is not considered to have Hepatitis.
2. The prevalence of HBsAg positive in Indonesia is quite high at 5-15%
3. Transmission of the Hepatitis B virus in the workplace is not easy because this transmission is only possible through close contact, for example through blood transfusions, injections or from mother to baby.
Based on the foregoing, the Circular of the Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Supervision No. SE.07/BW/1997 concerning Hepatitis B Testing in the Health Examination of Workers recommends to all companies/agencies not to test for HBsAg serum as a selection tool in the examination. early or periodic.