CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS, 2018

CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS, 2018

Arrangement of Clauses:
Chapter I: Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement
2. Definitions

Chapter II: Registration
3. Registration of certain establishments
4. Appeal
5. Notice by employer of commencement and cessation of operation

Chapter III: Duties of Employer and Employees, etc.
6. Duties of employer
7. Duties and responsibilities of owners, agents and managers in relation to mine
8. Duties of manufacturers
9. Duties of architects, project engineers and designers
10. Notice of certain accident
11. Notice of certain dangerous occurrences
12. Notice of certain diseases
13. Duties of employees
14. Rights of employee
15. Duty not to interfere with or misuse things

Chapter IV: Occupational Safety and Health
16. National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board
17. State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board
18. Occupational Safety and Health Standards
19. Research related activities
20. Safety and occupational health surveys
21. Statistics
22. Safety Committee and Safety Officers

Chapter V: Health and Working Conditions
23. Responsibility of employer for maintaining health and working conditions

Chapter VI: Welfare Provisions
24. Washing facilities in the establishment, etc.

Chapter VII: Hours of Work and Annual Leave with Wages 25. Weekly and daily working hours, etc.
26. Weekly and compensatory holidays
27. Extra wages for overtime
28. Night shifts
29. Prohibition of overlapping shifts
30. Restriction on double employment in factory and mine
31. Notice of periods of work 32. Annual leave with wages, etc.

Chapter VIII: Maintenance of Registers, Records and Returns etc.
33. Maintenance of registers and records and filing of returns

Chapter IX: Facilitators and other Authority
34. Appointment of Facilitators
35. Powers of Facilitators
36. Special powers of Facilitator in respect of factory, mines and dock work and building and other construction work
37. Secrecy of information by Chief Facilitator or Facilitator, etc.
38. Facilities to be afforded to the Facilitator
39. Powers of Special Officer to enter, measure, etc. in relation to mine
40. Medical Officer

Chapter X: Special Provision relating to Employment of Women
41. Applicability of the chapter
42. Restriction on employment of women
43. Prohibition on employment of women in dangerous operation

Chapter XI - Special Provisions for Contract Labour and Inter State Migrant Worker, etc.
PART-I Contract Labour and Inter State Migrant Worker
44. Applicability of this Part
45. Appointment of licensing officers
46. Licensing of contractors
47. Grant of licence
48. No fees or Commission or any cost to workers
49. Information regarding work order to be given to the appropriate Government
50. Revocation, suspension and amendment of license
51. Appeal
52. Liability of Principal Employer for welfare facilities
53. Effect of employing contract labour from a non-licensed Contractor
54. Responsibility of Payment of wages
55. Experience Certificate
56. Prohibition of employment of contract labour
57. Power to exempt in special cases
58. Facilities to Inter- State Migrant workers 59. Displacement allowance
60. Journey allowance etc.
61. Past liabilities
PART- II Audio-Visual Workers
62. Prohibition of employment of audio-visual worker without agreement PART- III Mines
63. Managers
64. Code not to apply in certain cases
65. Exemption from provision regarding employment
66. Decision of question whether a mine is under this Code
PART- IV Beedi and Cigar Workers
67. Licence to industrial premises and person
68. Appeals
69. Permission to work by employees outside industrial premises
70. Part not to apply to self employed persons in private dwelling houses PART -V Building and other Construction Worker
71. Prohibition of employment of certain persons in certain building or other construction work PART- VI Factory
72. Approval, licensing and registration of factories
73. Liability of owner of premises in certain circumstances
74. Power to apply the Code to certain premises
75. Dangerous operations
76. Constitution of Site Appraisal Committee
77. Compulsory disclosure of information by the occupier
78. Specific responsibility of the occupier in relation to hazardous processes
79. Power of Central Government to appoint Inquiry Committee
80. Emergency standards
81. Permissible limits of exposure of chemicals and toxic substances
82. Workers' participation in safety management
83. Right of workers to warn about imminent danger
84. Power to direct inquiry into cases of accident or disease in a factory
85. Appeal against the order of facilitator in case of factory
86. Power to make exempting rules and order

Chapter XII: Offences, Penalties and Procedure
87. General penalty for offences
88. Causing obstruction to deter Chief Facilitator or Facilitator from duty, etc.
89. Non-maintenance of register and records and non-filing of returns, etc. etc.
90. Contravention of provisions regarding employment of worker including women, audio-visual worker and contract labour, etc
91. Falsification of records, etc.
92. Penalty on disclosure of information
93. Penalty for wrongfully disclosing results of analysis of a sample of substance used or intended to be used
94. Penalty for contravention of the provisions of duties relating to hazardous processes
95. Penalty for contravention of the provisions of duties relating to safety provisions resulting in an accident
96. Failure to appoint manager in a mine
97. Offences by employees
98. Prosecution of owner, agent or manager of a mine
99. Exemption of owner, agent or manager of a mine or occupier of a factory from liability in certain cases 100. Offences by companies, etc.
101. Limitation of Prosecution and cognizance of offence
102. Jurisdiction of a court for entertaining proceedings, etc., for offence
103. Power of Court to make orders
104. Compounding of offences

Chapter XIII: Miscellaneous
105. Delegation of powers
106. Onus as to age
107. Onus of proving limits of what is practicable, etc.
108. Effect of law and agreements inconsistent with this Code
109. Power of the appropriate Government to direct inquiry in certain cases
110. Publication of reports
111. Powers of Central Government to give directions
112. General restriction on disclosure of information
113. Jurisdiction of civil courts barred
114. Protection of action taken in good faith
115. Power to exempt in special cases
116. Power to exempt during public emergency
117. Power to exempt public institution
118. Persons required to give notice, etc., legally bound to do so
119. Power to remove difficulties
120. Power of the appropriate Government to make rules
121. Power of the Central Government to make rules
122. Power of the State Government to make rules
123. Power of Central Government to make regulations in relation to mines and dock work
124. Prior publication of regulation and rules in relation to mine and dock work
125. Power to make regulation without previous publication
126. Bye-laws
127. Laying regulations, rules and bye laws before parliament
128. Laying of rules made by State Government
129. Repeal and Savings

The First Schedule
The Second Schedule The Third Schedule

CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS, 2018

A Bill
to consolidate and amend the laws regulating the occupational safety, health and working conditions of the persons employed in an establishment and the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the sixty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

Chapter I
Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement

1. This Act may be called the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2018.
2. It extends to the whole of India:
Provided that the provision of this Code in so for as are concerned with the beedi and cigar and plantation shall not be applicable in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Code and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Code shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.

2. Definitions – (1) In this Code, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) “adolescent” shall have the meaning as assigned to it in clause (i) of section 2 of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (61 of 1986);
(b)“adult” means a person who has completed his eighteenth year;
(c) “agent” when used in relation to a mine, means every person, superior to the manager and whether appointed as such or not, who, acting or purporting to act on behalf of the owner, takes part in the management, control, supervision or direction of the mine or of any part thereof; (d) “appropriate Government” means -
(i) in relation to an establishment carried on by or under the authority of the Central Government, railways, mines, oil fields, major ports, air transport services, telecommunication, banking and insurance company or a corporation or other authority established by a Central Act or a central public sector undertaking, subsidiary companies set up by the principal undertakings or autonomous bodies owned or controlled by the Central Government, the Central Government; and
(ii) in relation to any other establishment, the State Government of a State in which the other establishment is situate.
Explanation.- For removal of doubt, it is clarified that in respect of the contract labour supplied by a contractor for the purposes of an establishment, the appropriate Government for the establishment shall also be the appropriate Government for such contract labour;

(e) “audio-visual” production means audio-visual produced in wholly or partly in India including animation, cartoon depiction and audio-visual advertisement.
(f)"audio-visual worker" means a person, who is employed, directly or through any contractor, in or in connection with the audio-visual production to work as an artiste including actor, musician, singer, anchor, news reader or dancer or to do any work, skilled, unskilled, manual, supervisory, technical, artistic or otherwise, and his remuneration with respect to such employment in or in connection with the production of audio-visual does not exceed, where remuneration is by way of monthly wages or where such remuneration is by way of lump sum, in each case, the amount notified in this regard by the Central Government;
(g) “building or other construction work” means the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance or demolition in relation to, buildings, streets, roads, railways, tramways, airfields, irrigation, drainage, embankment and navigation works, flood control works (including storm water drainage works), generation, transmission and distribution of power, water works (including channels for distribution of water), oil and gas installations, electric lines, internet towers, wireless, radio, television, telephone, telegraph and overseas communications, dams, canals, reservoirs, watercourses, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, aqua-ducts, pipelines, towers, cooling towers, transmission towers and such other work as may be specified in this behalf by the Central Government, by notification, but does not include any building or other construction work of any factory or mine or any building or other construction work employing less than ten workers or any building or other construction work related to residential property not being more than the amount as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time;

(h) “building worker” means a person who is employed to do any skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, manual, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be expressed or implied, in connection with any building or other construction work, but does not include any such person who is employed mainly in a managerial or supervisory or administrative capacity;

(i) “cargo” includes anything carried or to be carried in a ship or other vessel, or vehicle;
(j) "competent person", in relation to any provision of this Code, means a person or an institution recognised as such by the Chief Facilitator for the purposes of carrying out tests, examinations and inspections required to be done in an establishment having regard to-
(i) the qualifications and experience of the person and facilities available at his disposal; or
(ii) the qualifications and experience of the persons employed in such institution and facilities available therein;
(k) "competent authority" means any authority notified by the appropriate Government to perform all or any of the functions of the competent authority under this Code and for such areas as may be specified in the notification;
(l) "contract labour" means a worker who shall be deemed to be employed in or in connection with the work of an establishment when he is hired in or in connection with such work by or through a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer and includes inter-state migrant worker.

Explanation 1.-For removal of doubt, it is clarified that where in or in connection with the work of an establishment, a worker, who is regularly employed in an establishment of a contractor, is hired in or in connection with such work of the first said establishment by or through the contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, shall not be deemed as “contract labour” for the purposes of this clause.

Explanation 2.- For the purposes of Explanation 1, the expression “regularly employed in an establishment of a contractor”, in case of a worker, means such worker who is employed by the contractor for any activity of his establishment and his employment is governed by mutually accepted standards of the conditions of employment (including engagement on permanent basis), and gets periodical increment in the pay, social security coverage and other welfare benefits in accordance with the law for the time being in force in such employment, but does not include part time employee;

(m)"contractor”, in relation to an establishment, means a person, who –
(i) undertakes to produce a given result for the establishment, other than a mere supply of goods or articles of manufacture to such establishment, through contract labour; or
(ii) supplies contract labour for any work of the establishment as mere human resource; and includes a sub-contractor;
(n) “chief facilitator” means a Chief Facilitator appointed under sub-section (3) of section 34;
(o) "controlled industry" means any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest;
(p) “day” means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at mid-night;
(q) “dock work” means any work in or within the vicinity of any port in connection with, or required, for, or incidental to, the loading, unloading, movement or storage of cargoes into or from ship or other vessel, port, dock, storage place or landing place, and includes –
(i) work in connection with the preparation of ships or other vessels for receipt or discharge of cargoes or leaving port; and
(ii) all repairing and maintenance processes connected with any hold, tank structure or lifting machinery or any other storage area on board the ship or in the docks;
(iii) chipping, painting or cleaning of any hold, tank, structure or lifting machinery or any other storage area in board the ship or in the docks; (r) “employee” means, –
(i) in respect of an establishment, a person, excluding an apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act, 1961, employed on wages by such establishment to do any skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled, manual, operational, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied; and
(ii) a person declared to be an employee by the appropriate Government; but does not include any member of the Armed Forces of the Union:
Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in this clause, in case of a mine a person is said to be “employed” in a mine who works as the manager or who works under appointment by the owner, agent or manager of the mine or with the knowledge of the manager, whether for wages or not—
(a) in any mining operation (including the concomitant operations of handling and transport of minerals upto the point of dispatch and of gathering sand and transport thereof to the mine);
(b) in operations or services relating to the development of the mine including construction of plan therein but excluding construction of buildings, roads, wells and any building work not directly connected with any existing or future mining operations;
(c) in operating, servicing, maintaining or repairing any part of any machinery used in or about the mine; (d) in operations, within the premises of the mine, of loading for dispatch of minerals;
(e) in any office of the mine;
(f) in any welfare, health, sanitary or conservancy services required to be provided under this Code relating to mine, or watch and ward, within the premises of the mine excluding residential area; or
(g) in any kind of work whatsoever which is preparatory or incidental to, or connected with, mining operations;

(s) “employer” means a person who employs employees in his establishment and where the establishment is carried on by any department of Central Government or State Government, the authority specified, by the head of such department, in this behalf or where no authority, is so specified the head of the department and in relation to an establishment carried on by a local authority, the Chief Executive of that authority, and includes, –
(i) in relation to an establishment which is a factory, the occupier of the factory;
(ii) in relation to any other establishment, the person who, or the authority which has ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment and where said affairs are entrusted to a manager or managing director, such manager or managing director;
(iii) in relation to mine, the owner of the mine; and (iv) Contractor;

(t) "establishment" means-
(i) mine, motor transport undertaking or the place where dock work is performed; and
(ii) any place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on including factory, newspaper establishment and plantation in which more than ten workers are employed;


(u) “facilitator” means a facilitator appointed under sub-section (1) of section 34;
(v) “factory” means any premises including the precincts thereof—
(i) whereon ten or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on, or
(ii) whereon twenty or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on,—
but does not include a mine, or a mobile unit belonging to the armed forces of the Union, railway running shed or a hotel, restaurant or eating place.
Explanation I.—For computing the number of workers for the purposes of this clause all the workers in 10 different groups and relays] in a day shall be taken into account;
Explanation II.—For the purposes of this clause, the mere fact that an Electronic Data Processing Unit or a Computer Unit is installed in any premises or part thereof, shall not be construed to make it a factory if no manufacturing process is being carried on in such premises or part thereof;
(w) “family”, when used in relation to a worker, means-
(i) his or her spouse, and
(ii) children including adopted children of the worker dependent upon him, who have not completed their eighteenth year,
and includes parents and widow sister, dependent upon him;
(x) “godown” means any warehouse or other place, by whatever name called, used for the storage of any article or substance required for any manufacturing process which means any process for, or incidental to, making, finishing or packing or otherwise treating any article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal as finished products;

(y)"hazardous process" means any process or activity in relation to an industry specified in the First Schedule where, unless special care is taken, raw materials used therein or the intermediate or finished products, bye- products, hazardous substances, wastes or effluents thereof would—
(i) cause material impairment to the health of the persons engaged in or connected therewith, or (ii) result in the pollution of the general environment:
Provided that the Central or State Government may, by notification, amend the First Schedule by way of addition, omission or variation of any industry specified in the said Schedule.

(z) “hazardous substance” means any substance as prescribed or preparation of which by reason of its chemical or physio-chemical properties or handling is liable to cause physical or health hazards to human being or may cause harm to other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms, property or the environment;

(za) “industrial premises” means any place or premises (not being a private dwelling house), including the precincts thereof, in which or in any part of which any industry, trade, business, occupation or manufacturing is being ordinarily carried on with or without the aid of power and includes a godown attached thereto;

(zb) "industry" means any systematic activity carried on by co-operation between an employer and worker (whether such worker is employed by such employer directly or by or through any agency, including a contractor) for the production, supply or distribution of goods or services with a view to satisfy human wants or wishes (not being wants or wishes which are merely spiritual or religious in nature), whether or not,––
(i) any capital has been invested for the purpose of carrying on such activity; or
(ii) such activity is carried on with a motive to make any gain or profit;

but does not include ––
(i) any activity of the Government relatable to the sovereign functions of the Government including all the activities carried on by the departments of the Central Government dealing with defence research, atomic energy and space; and
(ii) any domestic service;

(zc) "inter-State migrant worker" means any person who is recruited by or through a contractor in one State under an agreement or other arrangement for employment in an establishment in another State;

(zd) "machinery" means any article or combination of articles assembled, arranged or connected and which is used or intended to be used for converting any form of energy to performing work, or which is used or intended to be used, whether incidental thereto or not, for developing, receiving, storing, containing, confining, transforming, transmitting, transferring or controlling any form of energy;

(ze) "manufacturing process" means any process for-
(i) making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, packing, oiling, washing, cleaning, breaking up, demolishing, or otherwise treating or adapting any article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal; or
(ii) pumping oil, water, sewage or any other substance; or
(iii) generating, transforming or transmitting power; or
(iv) composing, printing, printing by letter press, lithography, offset, photogravure screen printing, 3-Dimensional printing, prototyping, flexography or other types of printing process or book binding; or
(v) constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, finishing, or breaking up ships or vessels; or
(vi) preserving or storing any article in cold storage ; or
(vii) such other purposes as the Central Government may notify;
(zf) “medical officer” means the medical officer appointed under sub-section (1) of section 40;
(zg)“mine” means any excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining minerals has been or is being carried on and includes -
(i) all borings, bore holes, oil wells and accessory crude conditioning plants, including the pipe conveying mineral oil within the oilfields;
(ii) all shafts, in or adjacent to and belonging to a mine, whether in the course of being sunk or not;
(iii) all levels and inclined planes in the course of being driven;
(iv) all opencast workings;
(v) all conveyors or aerial ropeways provided for the bringing into or removal from a mine of minerals or other articles or for the removal of refuse there from;
(vi) all adits, livels, planes, machinery works, railways, tramways and sidings in or adjacent to and belonging to a mine;
(vii) all protective works being carried out in or adjacent to a mine;
(viii) all workshops and stores situated within the precincts of a mine and under the same management and used primarily for the purposes connected with that mine or a number of mines under the same management;
(ix) all power stations, transformer sub-stations, converter stations, rectifier stations and accumulator storage stations for supplying electricity solely or mainly for the purpose of working the mine or a number of mines under the same management;
(x) any premises for the time being used for depositing sand or other material for use in a mine or for depositing refuse from a mine or in which any operations in connection with such sand refuse or other material is being carried on, being premises exclusively occupied by the owner of the mine;
(xi) any premises in or adjacent to and belonging to a mine or which any process ancillary to the getting, dressing or preparation for sale of minerals or of coke is being carried on;
and includes a mine owned by the Government;
(zh) “minerals” means all substances which can be obtained from the earth by mining, digging, drilling, dredging, hydraulicing, quarrying, or by any other operation and includes mineral oils (which in turn include natural gas and petroleum);
(zi) "motor transport undertaking" means a motor transport undertaking employing motor transport worker and engaged in carrying passengers or goods or both by road for hire or reward, and includes a private carrier;
(zj) “motor transport worker” means a person who is employed in a motor transport undertaking directly or through an agency, whether for wages or not, to work in a professional capacity on a transport vehicle or to attend to duties in connection with the arrival, departure, loading or unloading of such transport vehicle and includes a driver, conductor, cleaner, station staff, line checking staff, booking clerk, cash clerk, depot clerk, time-keeper, watchman or attendant, but does not include—
(i) any such person who is employed in a factory ;
(ii) any such person to whom the provisions of any law for the time being in force regulating the conditions of service of persons employed in shops or commercial establishments apply;
(zk) “newspaper” means any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news and includes such other class of printed periodical work as may, from time to time, be notified in this behalf by the Central Government;
(zl) "newspaper establishment” means an establishment under the control of any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, for the production or publication of one or more newspaper or for conducting any news agency or syndicate and includes newspaper establishments specified as one establishment as below, namely:-
(1) two or more newspaper establishments under common control shall be deemed to be one newspaper establishment;
(2) two or more newspaper establishments owned by an individual and his or her spouse shall be deemed to be one newspaper establishment unless it is shown that such spouse is a sole proprietor or partner or a shareholder of a corporate body on the basis of his or her own individual funds;
(3) two or more newspaper establishments publishing newspapers bearing the same or similar title and in the same language in any place in India or bearing the same or similar title but in different languages in the same State or Union territory shall be deemed to be one newspaper establishment.
Explanation 1 – For the purposes of sub-clause (1) two or more establishments shall be deemed to be under common control-
(a) (i) where the newspaper establishments are owned by a common individual or individuals;
(ii) where the newspaper establishments are owned by firms, if such firms have a substantial number of common partners;
(iii) where the newspaper establishments are owned by bodies corporate, if one body corporate is a subsidiary of the other body corporate, or both are subsidiaries of a common holding company or a substantial number of their equity shares are owned by the same person or group of persons, whether incorporated or not;
(iv) where one establishment is owned by a body corporate and the other is owned by a firm, if a substantial number of partners of the firm together hold a substantial number of equity shares of the body corporate;
(v) where one is owned by a body corporate and the other is owned by a firm having bodies corporate as its partners if a substantial number of equity shares of such bodies corporate are owned, directly or indirectly, by the same person or group of persons, whether incorporated or not, or (b) where there is functional integrality between concerned newspaper establishments.
Explanation 2. - For the purposes of this clause,-
(a) different departments, branches and centers of newspaper establishments shall be treated as parts thereof;
(b) a printing press shall be deemed to be a newspaper establishment if the principal business thereof is to print newspaper.

(zm) “notification” means a notification published in the Gazette of India or the official gazette of a state, as the case may be, and the expression “notify” with its grammatical variation and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
(zn) "occupier" of a factory means the person who has ultimate control over the affairs of the factory:
Provided that-
(i) in the case of a firm or other association of individuals, any one of the individual partners or members thereof shall be deemed to be the occupier;
(ii) in the case of a company, any one of the directors shall be deemed to be the occupier;
(iii) in the case of a factory owned or controlled by the Central Government or any State Government, or any local authority, the person or persons appointed to manage the affairs of the factory by the Central Government, the State Government or the local authority, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the occupier:
Provided further that in the case of a ship which is being repaired, or on which maintenance work is being carried out, in a dry dock which is available for hire, the owner of the dock shall be deemed to be the occupier for all purposes except the matters as may be prescribed by the Central Government which are directly related to the condition of ship for which the owner of ship shall be deemed to be the occupier;
(zo) "office of the mine" means an office at the surface of the mine concerned;

(zp) "open cast working" means a quarry, that is to say, an excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining minerals has been or is being carried on, not being a shaft or an excavation which extends below superjacent ground;

(zq) “ordinarily employed” with reference to any establishment or part thereof, means the average number of persons employed per day in the establishment or part thereof during the preceding calendar year obtained by dividing the number of man days worked by the number of working days excluding rest days and other nonworking days.

(zr) "owner", in relation to a mine, means any person who is the immediate proprietor or lessee or occupier of the mine or of any part thereof and in the case of a mine the business whereof is being carried on by a liquidator or receiver, such liquidator or receiver; but does not include a person who merely receives a royalty, rent or fine from the mine, or is merely the proprietor of the mine, subject to any lease grant or licence for the working thereof, or is merely the owner of the soil and not interested in the minerals of the mine; but any contractor or sub-lessee for the working of a mine or any part thereof shall be jointly and severally liable under the provisions of the Code with the owner;

(zs) "plantation" –
(A) means any land used or intended to be used for -
(i) growing tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona or cardamom which admeasures five hectares or more
(ii) growing any other plant, which admeasures five hectares or more and in which persons are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months, if, after obtaining the approval of the Central Government, the State Government, by notification, so directs.
Explanation.—Where any piece of land used for growing any plant referred to in paragraph (i) or paragraph (ii) of this sub-clause admeasures less than five hectares and is contiguous to any other piece of land not being so used, but capable of being so used, and both such pieces of land are under the management of the same employer, then, for the purposes of this sub-clause, the piece of land first mentioned shall be deemed to be a plantation, if the total area of both such pieces of land admeasures five hectares or more; and
(B) also means any land which the state government may, by notification, declares and which is used or intended to be used for growing any plant referred to in paragraph (i) or paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (A), notwithstanding that it admeasures less than five hectares:
Provided that no such declaration shall be made in respect of such land which admeasures less than five hectares immediately before the commencement of this Code; and
(C) includes offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools and any other premises used for any purpose connected with any plantation within the meaning of sub-clause (A) and sub-clause (B); but does not include factory on the premises;

(zt)“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, under this Code;
(zu) “principal employer”, where the contract labour is employed or engaged, means—
(i) in relation to any office or department of the Government or a local authority, the head of that office or department or such other officer as the Government or the local authority, as the case may be, may specify in this behalf;
(ii) in a factory, the owner or occupier of the factory and where a person has been named as the manager of the factory, the person so named;
(iii) in a mine, the owner or agent of the mine and where a person has been named as the manager of the mine, the person so named;
(iv) in relation to any other establishment, any person responsible for the supervision and control of the establishment.

(zv) "producer", in relation to audio-visual production means the person by whom the arrangements necessary for producing such audio-visual (including the raising of finances and engaging audio-visual workers for producing audio-visual) are under-taken;
(zw) "production", in relation to production of audio-visual, including any of the activities in respect of making thereof;
(zx) “qualified medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner who possesses any recognised medical qualification as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956) and who is enrolled on a State Medical register as defined in clause (k) of that section;
(zy) “relay”- where work of the same kind is carried out by two or more sets of persons working during different periods of the day each of such sets is called a "relay " and each such periods is called a "shift";
(zz)“sales promotion employees” means any person by whatever name called (including an apprentice) employed or engaged in any establishment for hire or reward to do any work relating to promotion of sales or business, or both, but does not include any such person,-
(i) who, being employed or engaged in a supervisory capacity, draws wages exceeding fifteen thousand rupees per mensem or an amount as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time; or
(ii) who is employed or engaged mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity.

(zza) “serious bodily injury” means any injury which involves, or in all probability will involve, the permanent loss of any part or section of a body or the use of any part or section of a body, or the permanent loss of or injury to the sight or hearing or any permanent physical incapacity or the fracture of any bone or one or more joints or bones of any phalanges of hand or foot;
(zzb) “standards,” “regulations” and “rules” respectively means standards, regulations and rules made under this Code;
(zzc) “week” means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Chief Facilitator;
(zzd) “worker” means any person (except an apprentice as defined under clause (aa) of section 2 of the Apprentices Act, 1961) employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, and includes working journalists and sales promotion employees for the purposes of any proceeding under this Code in relation to an industrial dispute, includes any such person who has been dismissed, discharged or retrenched or otherwise terminated in connection with, or as a consequence of, that dispute, or whose dismissal, discharge or retrenchment has led to that dispute, but does not include any such person––

(i) who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950, or the Army Act, 1950, or the Navy Act, 1957; or
(ii) who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison; or
(iii) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
(iv) who is employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wage of exceeding fifteen thousand rupees per month or an amount as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause, the expression “industrial dispute” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (k) of section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947;
(zze) “Working Journalist” means a person whose principal avocation is that of a journalist and who is employed as such, either whole-time or part-time, in, or in relation to, one or more newspaper establishment, and includes an editor, a leader-writer, news editor, sub-editor, feature-writer, copy-tester, reporter, correspondent, cartoonist, news-photographer and proof-reader, but does not include any such person who is employed mainly in a managerial, supervisory or administrative capacity;
(2) A person working or employed in or in connection with mine is said to be working or employed-
(a) "below ground" if he is working or employed-
(i) in a shaft which has been or is in the course being sunk ; or
(ii) in any excavation which extends below superjacent ground ; and
(b) "above ground " if he is working in an open cast working or in any other manner not specified in clause (a).


Chapter II
Registration
3. Registration of certain establishments. – (1) Every employer of an establishment, employing ten or more employees, shall, register-
(a) such establishment to which this Code applies at its commencement; and
(b) such other establishment to which this Code may be applicable at any time after such commencement;
within a period of six months from such commencement or, as the case may be, from the date on which this Code becomes so applicable to such establishment, by making an application to the registering officer appointed by the appropriate government (hereinafter referred to as the registering officer) for the registration of such establishment:
Provided that the registering officer may entertain any such application for registration after the expiry of such period on payment of such late fees as may be prescribed by the appropriate government.
(2) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be submitted in prescribed manner to the registering officer in such form and shall contain such particulars and shall be accompanied by such fees as may be prescribed by the appropriate government.
(3) After the receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the registering officer shall register the establishment and issue a certificate of registration to the employer thereof in such form and within such time and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
Provided that where an establishment is ministry, department, attached office or subordinate office of the Central Government or a State Government, then, the registration of the establishment is not required under this section.
Explanation – For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression “attached office or sub-ordinate office of the
Central Government or a State Government” means such offices of the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be, -
(i) to whom any execution of policy of such Government has been decentralized for executive convenience; or
(ii) which are responsible for providing executive direction required in implementation of the policies laid down by the Ministry or department of the Government to which they are attached or subordinate; or
(iii) which generally function as field establishments or an agencies responsible for the detailed execution of the policies of the concerned Government; or
which, are, having regard to the nature of their responsibilities and functions, have been declared by the concerned Government to be the attached offices or subordinate offices .
(4) Where, after the registration of an establishment under this Code, any change occurs in the ownership or management or other particulars prescribed by the Central Government in respect of such establishment, the particulars regarding such change shall be intimated by the employer to the registering officer within thirty days of such change in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
(5) The employer of an establishment shall, within thirty days of the closing of establishment –
(a) inform the closing of such establishment;
(b) certify payment of all dues to the workers,
to the registering officer in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government and the registering officer shall, on receiving such information and certificates remove such establishment, as the case may be, from the register of establishment maintained by him and cancel the registration certificate within thirty days.
(6) If an employer of an establishment-
(i) violates any provision of this Code applicable to such establishment; or
(ii) has misrepresented or misrepresents any fact relating to registration to the registering officer, the registering officer may after providing employer an opportunity of being heard, revoke the registration of the establishment.

(7) No employer of an establishment-
(i) who has not registered the establishment under this section; or
(ii) the registration of such establishment has been cancelled under clause (5) or revoked under clause (6) and no appeal has been preferred against such revocation under section 4 or where such appeal has been preferred, such appeal has been dismissed, shall employ in the establishment any employee.
4. Appeal- (1) Any person aggrieved by an order made under section 3 may, within thirty days from the date on which the order is communicated to him, prefer an appeal to an appellate officer who shall be a person notified in this behalf by the appropriate Government:
Provided that the appellate officer may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of thirty days, if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
(2) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the appellate officer shall, after giving the appellant an opportunity of being heard, dispose of the appeal within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the appeal.
5. Notice by employer of commencement and cessation of operation:- No employer of an establishment being factory or mine or relating to contract labour or building or construction work shall use such establishment to commence the operation of any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation thereon without sending notice of such purpose in such form and manner and to such authority as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government and shall also intimate in the prescribed manner to such authority the cessation of such operation.


Chapter III
Duties of Employer and Employees, etc.

6. Duties of employer:
(1) Every employer shall ensure to his employees that work place is free from hazards that cause or are likely to cause injury or occupational disease to the employees, and shall comply with the Occupational Safety and Health standards made under this Code and of the regulations, rules, bye-laws and orders made there under.
(1A)Every employer shall ensure the periodical medical examination and prescribed tests of the employee employed in his establishment in the manner as prescribed.
(2) Every employer shall provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the employees.

(3) Every employer or manager of an establishment shall furnish to every worker on his appointment in the establishment, a letter of appointment in the prescribed form and where a worker appointed on or before the commencement of this Code does not have an appointment letter furnished by his employer or manager, such worker shall, within three months of such commencement, be furnished with appointment letter in the form so prescribed.

(4) No employer shall levy or permit to be levied on any employee, any charge in respect of anything done or provided for maintenance of safety and health at work place including conduct of medical examination and investigation for the purpose of detecting occupational diseases.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), (2), (3), (4) the duties of an employer shall particularly in respect of factory, mines, dock, building and other construction work or plantation include -

(a) the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work in the workplace that are safe and without risks to health;
(b) the arrangements in the workplace for ensuring safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
(c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all workers at work;
(d) the maintenance of all places of work in the workplace in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of such means of access to, and egress from, such places as are safe and without such risks;
(e) the provision, maintenance or monitoring of such working environment in the workplace for the employees that is safe, without risks to health and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.

(6) Every employer relating to factory, mine, dock work, building or other construction work or plantation shall ensure and be responsible for the safety and health of persons who are on the work premises of the employer, with or without his knowledge.

7. Duties and responsibilities of owner, agent and manager in relation to mine.—(1) The owner and agent of every mine shall jointly and severally be responsible for making financial and other provisions and for taking such other steps as may be necessary for compliance with the provisions of this Code and the regulations, rules, bye-laws and orders made there under.
(2) The responsibility in respect of matters provided for in the rules, made by the Central Government under this Code in respect of mines –
(a) requiring the maintenance therein, wherein the women are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months, suitable rooms to be reserved for the use of children under the age of six years belonging to such women and for providing, either generally or with particular reference to the number of women employed in the mine, the number and standards of such rooms provided and the supervision to be exercised therein;
(b) for requiring the maintenance at or near pitheads of bathing places equipped with shower baths and of locker rooms for the use of men employed in mines and of similar and separate places and rooms for the use of women employed therein, and for providing, either generally or with particular reference to the number of men and women ordinarily employed in a mine, the number and standards of such place and rooms;
(c) for requiring the provision and maintenance in any mine specified in this behalf by the Chief Facilitator or Facilitator, wherein, more than two hundred and fifty persons are ordinarily employed, of a canteen or canteens for the use of such persons;
shall be exclusively complied with by the owner and agent of the mine and by such person (other than the mines manager) whom the owner or agent may appoint for securing compliance with the aforesaid provisions.
(3) If the compliance of any instructions given under sub-section (2) or given otherwise than through the manager under sub-section (3) of section 63, results in the contravention of the provisions of this Code or of
the regulations, rules, bye-laws or orders made there under, every person giving such instructions shall also be liable for the contravention of the provisions concerned.
(4) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3), the owner, agent and manager of every mine shall jointly or severally responsible to see that all operations carried on in connection with the mine are conducted
in accordance with the provisions of this Code and of the regulations, rules, bye-laws and orders made there under.
(5) In the event of any contravention by any person whosoever of any of the provisions of this Code or of the regulations, rules, bye-laws or orders made there under, relating to mine, except those which specifically require any person to do any act or thing or prohibit any person from doing an act or thing, besides the person who contravenes, then, each of the following persons shall also be deemed to be guilty of such contravention unless he proves that he had used due diligence to secure compliance with the provisions and had taken reasonable means to prevent such contravention, namely:—
(i) the official or officials appointed to perform duties of supervision in respect of the provisions contravened;
(ii) the manager of the mine;
(iii) the owner and agent of the mine;
(iv) the person appointed, if any, to carry out the responsibility under sub-section (2).
(6) It shall not be a defence in any proceedings brought against the owner or agent of a mine under this section that the manager and other officials have been appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Code or that a person to carry the responsibility under sub-section (2) has been appointed.
8. Duties of manufacturers – (1) The Central Government shall make regulations after consultation with the National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board and such regulations shall be complied with by every person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use in any factory.
(2) The regulations under sub-section (1) shall be made generally for governing the duties of manufacturers as regards articles and substances for use in factories and particularly to-
(a) ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is so designed and constructed in the factories as to be safe and without risks to the health of the workers when properly used;
(b) carry out or manage for the carrying out such tests and examination in the factories as may be considered necessary for the effective implementation of the provisions of clause (a);
(c) take out steps as may be necessary to ensure that adequate information will be made available-
(i) in connection with the use of the article in any factory;
(ii) about the use for which such article is designed and tested; and
(iii) about any conditions necessary to ensure that the article, when put to such use, shall be safe, and without risks to the health of the workers:
Provided that where an article is designed or manufactured outside India, then such regulations shall contain provisions making obligatory on the part of the importer to see -
(A) that the article conforms to the same standards of such article manufactured in India; or
(B) if the standards adopted in the country outside India for the manufacture of such article is above the standards adopted in India, that article conforms to such standards in such country;
(C) if there is no standard of such article in India, then, the article confirms to the standard adopted in the country from where it is imported at its national level;
9. Duties of architects, project engineers and designers.—(1) It shall be the duty of the architect, project engineer or designer responsible for any building or other construction work or the design of any project or part thereof relating to such building or other construction work to ensure that, at the planning stage, due consideration is given to the safety and health aspects of the building workers and employees who are employed in the erection, operation and execution of such projects and structures as the case may be.

(2) Adequate care shall be taken by the architect, project engineer and other professionals involved in the project referred to in sub-section (1), not to include anything in the design which would involve the use of dangerous structures or other processes or materials, hazardous to health or safety of building workers and employees during the course of erection, operation and execution as the case may be.
(3) It shall also be the duty of the professionals, involved in designing the buildings structures or other construction projects, to take into account the safety aspects associated with the maintenance and upkeep of the structures and buildings where maintenance and upkeep may involve special hazards.
10. Notice of certain accident.- (1) Where at any place in an establishment, an accident occurs which causes death, or which causes any bodily injury by reason of which the person injured is prevented from working for period of forty-eight hours or more immediately following the accident or which is of such nature as may be prescribed, then,-
(i) employer or owner of such establishment if it is mine or where an agent of such mine takes part in management of the place where such accident occurs in the mine, then, such agent; or
(ii) employer in relation to such establishment if it is factory or relates to dock work; or
(iii) the employer of such establishment if it is plantation; or
(iv) employer of the establishment if it relates to building or other construction work; or (v) employer in relation to any other establishment,
as the case may be, shall send notice thereof to such authorities, in such manner and within such time, as may be prescribed.
(2) Where a notice given under sub-section (1) relates to an accident causing death in an establishment, the authority to whom the notice is sent shall make an inquiry into the occurrence within one month of the receipt of the notice or if there is no such authority, the Chief Facilitator shall cause the Facilitator to make an inquiry within the said period.
11. Notice of certain dangerous occurrences.- Where in an establishment any dangerous occurrence of such nature as may be prescribed, occurs, whether causing any bodily injury or disability, or not, the employer shall send notice thereof to such authorities, and in such form and within such time, as may be prescribed.
12. Notice of certain diseases. -(1) Where any worker in an establishment contracts any disease specified in the Third Schedule the employer of the establishment shall send notice thereof to such authorities, and in such form and within such time, as may be prescribed.
(2) If any qualified medical practitioner attends on a person, who is or has been employed in an establishment, and who is, or is believed by the qualified medical practitioner, to be suffering from any disease specified in the Third Schedule, the medical practitioner shall without delay send a report in writing to the office of the Chief Facilitator in the form and manner and within such time as prescribed.
(3) If any qualified medical practitioner fails to comply with the provisions of sub-section (2), he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
(4) The Central Government may, by notification, add to or alter the Third Schedule and any such addition or alteration shall have effect as if it had been made by amendment of this Code.
13. Duties of employees- Every employee at work place shall –

(a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the work place;
(b) comply with the safety and health requirements specified in the Standards;
(c) co-operate with the employer in meeting the statutory obligations of the employer under the Code;
(d) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable, report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative for his workplace or section thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer;
(e) willfully interfere with, or misuse, or neglect any appliance, convenience or other thing provided work for the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of workers; and
(f) not do, willfully and without reasonable cause, anything, likely to endanger himself or others.


14. Rights of employee- (1) Every employee in an establishment shall have the right to obtain from the employer information relating to safety and health at work; and represent to the employer directly or through a member of the Safety Committee, if constituted by the employer for such purpose, regarding inadequate provision for protection of his safety or health in connection with the work activity in the workplace, and if not satisfied, to the Facilitator.
(2) (i) where the employees referred to in sub-section (1) in any work place have reasonable apprehension that there is a likelihood of imminent serious personal injury or death or imminent danger to health, they may bring the same to the notice of their employer directly or through a member of the Safety Committee referred to in sub-section (1) and simultaneously bring the same to the notice of the Facilitator.

(ii) The employer or any employee referred to in sub-section (1) shall take immediate remedial action if he is satisfied about the existence of such imminent danger and send a report forthwith of the action taken to the Facilitator.

(3) If the employer referred to in clause (ii) of sub-section (2) is not satisfied about the existence of any imminent danger as apprehended by his employees, he shall, nevertheless, refer the matter forthwith to the Facilitator whose decision on the question of the existence of such imminent danger shall be final.

15. Duty not to interfere with or misuse things -No person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with, damage or misuse anything which is provided in the interest of health ,safety or welfare under this Code.



Chapter IV
Occupational Safety and Health

16. National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board:-(1) The Central Government shall, by notification, constitute the National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board (hereinafter in this Code referred to as the National Board) to discharge the functions conferred on it by or under this Code and to advise to the Central Government on the matters relating to – (i) Standards, rules and regulations to be framed under this Code;
(ii) implementation of the provisions of this Code and the rules and regulations relating thereto;
(iii) the issues of policy relating to occupational safety and health referred to it, from time to time, by the Central Government; and
(iv) any other matter relating to this code referred to, from time to time, by the Central Government.

(2)The National Board shall consist of-
(i) Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment…..Chairperson ( ex-officio);
(ii) Director General, Factory Advices Services and Labour Institutes, Mumbai…..Member ( ex-officio);
(iii) Director General, Mines Safety, Dhanbad…..Member (ex-officio);
(iv) Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur…..Member (ex-officio);
(v) Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi…..Member (ex-officio);
(vi) Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi…..Member (ex-officio);
(vii) Principal Secretaries dealing with labour matters of 4 States (by rotation as the Central Government may deem fit) …..Member (ex-officio);
(viii) Director General, Employee State Insurance Corporation, New Delhi…..Member (ex-officio);
(ix) Director General, Health Services, New Delhi…..Member (ex-officio); (x) five representatives of employers…..Member (ex-officio);
(xi) five representatives of employees…..Member (ex-officio);
(xii) five eminent persons connected with the field of Occupational Safety and Health, or representatives from reputed research institutions or similar other discipline…. Member:
(xiii) Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment-Member Secretary (ex-officio);

(3) The terms of office of the Members referred to in clause (vii), (x), (xi) and (xii) of sub-section (2) shall be of three years and the procedure of the National Board and the officers and staff thereof shall be such as may be prescribed.

(4) The Central Government may constitute as many technical Committees or advisory committees consisting of such number of members having such qualifications as may be prescribed, to assist the National Board in discharge of its function specified in sub-section (1).

17. State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board- (1)The State Government shall constitute a board to be called the Sta