Occupational Health and Safety (OH & S)

Health and safety of the employees is an important aspect of a

company's smooth and successful functioning. It is a decisive
factor in organizational effectiveness. It ensures an accident-free
industrial environment. Companies must attach the same
importance towards achieving high OH&S performance as they
do to the other key objectives of their business activities. This is
because, proper attention to the safety and welfare of the
employees can yield valuable returns to a company by improving
employee morale, reducing absenteeism and enhancing
productivity, minimizing potential of work-related injuries and
illnesses and increasing the quality of manufactured products
and/ or rendered services.

The Constitution of India has also specified provisions for

ensuring occupational health and safety for workers in the form
of three Articles i.e. 24, 39(e and f) and 42. The regulation of
labour and safety in mines and oil fields is under the Union list.
While the welfare of labour including conditions of work,
provident funds, employers' invalidity and old age pension and
maternity benefit are in the Concurrent list.

The Ministry of Labour , Government of India and Labour

Departments of the States and Union Territories are responsible
for safety and health of workers. Directorate General of Mines
Safety (DGMS) and Directorate General Factory Advice
Services & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) assist the Ministry in
technical aspects of occupational safety and health in mines and
factories & ports sectors, respectively.

DGMS exercises preventive as well as educational influence

over the mining industry. Its mission is the reduction in risks of
occupational diseases and casualty to persons employed in
mines, by drafting appropriate legislation and setting standards
and through a variety of promotional initiatives and awareness
programmes. It undertakes inspection of mines, investigation of
all fatal accidents, grant of statutory permission, exemptions and
relaxations in respect of various mining operation, approval of
mines safety equipment, appliances and material, conduct
examinations for grant of statutory competency certificate, safety
promotional incentives including organization of national awards
and national safety conference, etc.

DGFASLI is an attached office to the Ministry of Labour and

relates to factories and ports/docks. It renders technical advice
to the States/Union Territories in regard to administration and
enforcement of the Factories Act. It also undertakes support
research facilities and carries out promotional activities through
education and training in mattersconcerning occupational safety
and health.

Major Initiatives undertaken by DGFASLI during the Xth Five

Year Plan are:-

 Improvement and strengthening of enforcement

system for safety and health of dock workers in major
ports.

 Development of safety and health information system

and data bank.

 Establishment of Regional Labour Institute at

Faridabad.

 Setting up of a National Board on occupational safety

and health.

Legislations
The statutes relating to OH&S are broadly divided into three:-

 Statutes for safety at workplaces

 Statutes for safety of substances

 Statutes for safety of activities

At present, safety and health statutes for regulating OH&S of

persons at work exist only in four sectors:-

 Mining

 Factories

 Ports

 Construction

The major legislations are:-

The Factories Act, 1948

 It regulates health, safety, welfare and other working

conditions of workers in factories.

 It is enforced by the State Governments through their

factory inspectorates. The Directorate General Factory
Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) co-ordinates
 matters concerning safety, health and welfare of workers in
the factories with the State Governments.

 DGFASLI conducts training, studies and surveys on various

aspects relating to safety and health of workers through the
Central Labour Institute in Mumbai and three other
Regional Labour Institutes located at Kolkata, Chennai and
Kanpur.

(For details on this Act, refer to Sub-Section "Laws

relating to Working Hours, Conditions of Service and
Employment")

Mines Act, 1952

 It contains provisions for measures relating to the health,

safety and welfare of workers in the coal, metalliferous and
oil mines.

 The Mines Act, 1952, prescribed duties of the owner

(defined as the proprietor, lessee or an agent) to manage
mines and mining operation and the health and safety in
mines. It also prescribes the number of working hours in
mines, the minimum wage rates, and other related matters.

 Directorate General of Mines Safety conducts inspections

and inquiries, issues competency tests for the purpose of
appointment to various posts in the mines, organises
seminars/conferences on various aspects of safety of
workers.
  Courts of Inquiry are set up by the Central Government to
investigate into the accidents, which result in the death of
10 or above miners. Both penal and pecuniary punishments
are prescribed for contravention of obligation and duties
under the Act.

(For details on this Act, refer to Sub-Section "Laws

relating to Working Hours, Conditions of Service and
Employment")

Dock Workers (Safety, Health & Welfare) Act, 1986

 It contains provisions for the health, safety and welfare of

workers working in ports/docks.

 It is administered by Director General Factory Advice

Service and Labour Institutes, Directorate General FASLI
as the Chief Inspector there are inspectorates of dock
safety at 10 major ports in India viz. Kolkata, Mumbai,
Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Kandla, Mormugao,
Tuticorin, Cochin and New Mangalore

 overall emphasis in the activities of the inspectorates is to

contain the accident rates and the number of accidents at
the ports.

Other legislations and the rules framed thereunder:-

 Plantation Labour Act, 1951

 Explosives Act, 1884

  Petroleum Act, 1934

 Insecticide Act, 1968

 Indian Electricity Act, 1910

 Indian Boilers Act, 1923

 Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962

 Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation

of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996

 Beedi and Cigar Workers' (Conditions of Employment)

Act, 1966 .

National Safety Council of India (NSCI)

The National Safety Council of India (NSCI) was set up to

promote safety consciousness among workers to prevent
accidents, minimize dangers and mitigate human suffering,
arrange programmes, lectures and conferences on safety,
conduct educational campaigns to arouse consciousness
among employers and workers and collect educational and
information data, etc. It has launched new initiatives in three
sectors:-

 Road Transportation Safety

  Safety of Health in Construction Sector

 Safety, Health and Environment in Small and Medium

Scale Enterprises(SMEs)

At the international level, NSCI has developed close

collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO);
United Nations Environment Programmes (UNEP); World Bank
; Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC),Bangkok; World
Environment Centre (WEC), New York; and the member
organizations of Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health
Organisation (APOSHO) of which NSCI is a founder-member.

The National APELL (Awareness and Preparedness for

Emergencies at Local Level) Centre (NAC) has been
established since April 2002 in the NSCI Headquarters under the
MoU with the Division of Technology, Industry & Economics
(DTIE) of UNEP, Paris. It is the first APELL Centre in the world.
It has the technical support and information from UNEP and
other international sources and the Ministry of Environment &
Forests, Government of India and the stakeholders. It is
dedicated primarily to strengthen chemical emergency
preparedness and response in India through the use of the
internationally accepted APELL process.

Policy

Announcement of the National Policy On Safety, Health And

Environment At Work Place was also a step towards
improvement in safety, health and environment at workplace
performance.

Objectives of the policy were:-

  Continuous reduction in incidence of work related injuries,
fatalities, diseases, disaster and loss of national assets.

 Continuous reduction in the cost of work place injuries and

diseases.

 Extend coverage of work related injuries, fatalities, and

diseases for a more comprehensive data base as a means
of better performance and monitoring.

 Continuous enhancement of community awareness

regarding safety, health and environment at workplace
related areas.

Awards

In order to encourage occupational health and safety, certain

awards have also been instituted by the Government:-

 The National Safety Awards for factories and docks,

were instituted in 1965, to give recognition to good safety
performance on the part of the industrial undertakings and
to stimulate and maintain the interest of both management
and workers in accident prevention programmes.

 The National Safety Awards for mines were instituted in

1983, to give recognition to outstanding safety
performances of mines of national-level which comes within
the purview of the Mines Act, 1952.
  The Shram Vir Awards, now known as Vishwakarma
Rashtriya Puraskar were instituted in 1965. These are
meant for workers of factories, mines, plantations and
docks and are given to them in recognition of their
meritorious performance, which leads to high productivity
or economy or higher efficiency.

Indian Standard on OH&S management systems

Occupational Health and Safety demands adoption of a

structured approach for the identification of hazards, their
evaluation and control of risks in the organisation.
Hence, Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated an Indian
Standard on OH&S management systems. It is called as the IS
18001:2000 Occupational Health and Safety Management
Systems. This standard prescribes the requirements for an
OH&S Management Systems, to enable an organization to
formulate a policy, taking into account the legislative
requirements. It also provides information about significant
hazards and risks, which the organization can control in order to
protect its employees and others, whose health and safety may
be affected by the activities of the organization.

Organizations interested in obtaining licence for OH&S

Management System as per IS 18001 should ensure that they
are operating the system according to this standard. The
organization should apply on the prescribed proforma ( Form
IV ) at the nearest Regional Office of BIS along with
Questionnaire ( Form X ) and the prescribed application fee. The
application shall be signed by the proprietor or the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization or any other person
authorised to sign on behalf of the organization. The name and
designation of the person signing the application must be
recorded legibly in a space set apart for the purpose in the
application form. Each application must be accompanied by a
documented Occupational Health and Safety Management
System Documentation (such as OHS manual etc.)
India and International Labour Organisation (ILO)

India is a founder member of International Labour

Organization. The principal means of action in ILO is the setting
up the 'International Labour Standards' in the form of
Conventions and Recommendations. Conventions are
international treaties and are the instruments which create
legally binding obligations on the countries ratifying them.
Recommendations are non-binding guidelines which orient
national policies and actions. ILO has so far adopted 182
conventions and 190 recommendations, encompassing subjects
such as worker's fundamental rights, worker's protection, social
security, labour welfare, occupational safety and health, women
and child labour, migrant labour, indigenous and tribal
population, etc

The approach of India with regard to International Labour

Standards has always been positive. India has accordingly
evolved legislative and administrative measures for protection
and advancement of the interests of labour in India. The practice
followed by India so far has been that a Convention is ratified
only when the national laws and practices are in conformity the
provisions of the Convention in question. India has so far ratified
41 ILO Conventions. The unratified Conventions of the ILO are
also reviewed at appropriate intervals in relation to our National
laws and practices.

List of ILO Conventions ratified by India

Sl.No No. and Title of Convention Date of

. ratification

1. No.1 Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 14.07.1921

1919

2.* No.2 Unemployment Convention, 1919 14.07.1921

3. No.4 Night Work (Women) Convention, 14.07.1921
1919

4. No.5 Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 09.09.1955

1919

5. No.6 Night Work of Young Persons 14.07.1921

(Industry) Convention, 1919

6. No.11 Right of Association (Agriculture) 11.05.1923

Convention, 1921

7. No.14 Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 11.05.1923

1921

8. No.15 Minimum Age (Trimmers and 20.11.1922

Stokers) Convention, 1921

9. No.16 Medical Examination of Young 20.11.1922

Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921

10. No.18 Workmen's Compensation 30.09.1927

(Occupational Diseases) Convention, 1925

11. No.19 Equality of Treatment (Accident 30.09.1927

Compensation) Convention, 1925

12. No.21 Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 14.01.1928

1926

13. No.22 Seamen's Articles of Agreement 31.10.1932

Convention, 1926

14. No.26