JAKARTA, 25 September 2025 – Aksi Ekologi dan Emansipasi Rakyat (AEER) expresses its deep concern over the incident that struck seven PT Freeport Indonesia workers at the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) underground mine in Tembagapura, Mimika Regency, Central Papua. This incident reaffirms that Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in Indonesia’s mining sector still faces serious problems, not only from a technical perspective, but also in terms of safety culture.

The incident in which seven workers were trapped in the Freeport underground mine should serve as a wake-up call for the country: Law No. 1 of 1970 on Occupational Safety (UU No. 1 Tahun 1970 tentang Keselamatan Kerja) is no longer relevant in addressing the risks of modern mining, especially underground operations, which are inherently very dangerous. The government must immediately prioritise the revision of the Occupational Safety and Health Law so that the new regulations can accommodate the actual conditions in large mines such as Grasberg, strengthen minimum technical standards, supervision mechanisms, the role of workers in safety audits, and impose strict sanctions for violations.

This is especially true considering the number of worker safety incidents that have occurred at the Grasberg Mine over the past three decades. In 2003, a major landslide killed eight workers and injured five others after a mine wall collapsed — even though the company had been aware of signs of cracking two days earlier. Similar incidents occurred in 2006 and 2013: in 2013, the roof of an underground training tunnel at the Big Gossan facility collapsed, trapping dozens of workers and killing many of them.