Legal Perspectives of Occupational Safety and Health in India

Safety and health occupy a significant place in India's constitution. This  article provides you important legislation and legal aspects, legal framework and legal norms for occupational safety and health in India. It is equally important for all HSE/EHS engineers/officers to have a good knowledge about legal perspectives along with the technical safety knowledge base. This is also important for all the managers, engineers and safety officers because they are responsible for the safety of staffs/workmen/labours working under them. A safe work place for the workmen and basic needs of the workmen must be satisfied. The people working under an industry have their legal rights. 

The global perspective of legal aspects in occupational safety and health is majorly contributed by International Labour Organisation (ILO). It has 18 conventions that are focusing on issues of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). India has only ratified only 3 conventions on OSH. Some of the important conventions which India is yet to ratify are Convention 155 on Occupational Safety and Health and the working environment, Convention 161 on occupational health services, Convention 167 on safety and health in construction, Convention 187 on promotional framework for OSH, Convention 176 on safety and health in mines etc. Note that India has ratified 41 ILO conventions, among that only three is related to OSH.

If we come to the history of legislation on occupational health and safety in India, the principal laws were based on 50 year old British Factories Act. The factories which comprise of more than 10 workers will come under factories act. The turning point on these legislation was the dreadful Bhopal gas disaster which opened the eyes of many safety legislators in India. The Factories Act 1948 has been amended for the first time after this incident. The amendment introduced a proactive approach for dealing with prevention of its occurrence rather than 'dealing with disaster' concept. In the amended act, a special chapter on occupational health and safety was added to safe guard workers employed in hazardous industries. Moreover pre-employment medical examination and periodical medical check up were made mandatory for hazardous industries and a limit has been set for the quantity of chemicals. There are also prohibitions on employing children under the age of 14 thereby protecting their health and strength by discouraging employment unsuitable to the workers age.

Some of the important Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations in India are as follows. Read the detailed document about these acts for more details.

• Explosive Act, 1884
• Indian Electricity Act, 1910
• Indian Boilers Act, 1923
• Petroleum Act,1934
• Factories Act, 1948
• Plantation Labour Act, 1951
• Mines Act, 1952
• Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962
• Insecticide Act, 1968
• Radiological Protection Rules, 1971
• Dangerous Machines (Regulations) Act,1983
• Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
• Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989

The Factories Act is implemented by state factory inspectorates and is aided by industrial hygiene laboratories. The Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Misnistry of Labour, is responsible for health and safety of mine workers and implementation of Mines Act. Similarly, The Directorate General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), assists the labour ministry in formulating national policies on occupational health and safety in factories and docks, and enforcing them through inspectorates of factories and inspectorates of dock safety.