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 matters
concerning 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, 1919 14.07.1921

2.* No.2 Unemployment Convention, 1919 14.07.1921

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

4. No.5 Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919 09.09.1955

5. No.6 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 14.07.1921
1919

6. No.11 Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 11.05.1923

7. No.14 Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 11.05.1923

8. No.15 Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 20.11.1922

1921
9. No.16 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) 20.11.1922
Convention, 1921

10. No.18 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) 30.09.1927

Convention, 1925
11. No.19 Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) 30.09.1927
Convention, 1925

12. No.21 Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926 14.01.1928

13. No.22 Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 31.10.1932

14. No.26 Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery, Convention, 1928 10.01.1955

15. No.27 Marking of Weight (Packages Transported by Vessels) 07.09.1931
Convention, 1929

16. No.29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930 30.11.1954

17. No.32 Protection Against Accidents (Dockers) Convention 10.02.1947
(Revised), 1932

18.@ No.41 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1934 22.11.1935

19. No.42 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) 13.01.1964
Convention (Revised), 1934

20 No.45 Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 25.03.1938

21. No.80 Final Articles Revision Convention, 1946 17.11.1947
22. ** No.81 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 07.04.1949
23. No.88 Employment Services Convention, 1948 24.06.1959

24. No.89 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 27.02.1950

25. No.90 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) (Revised), 27.02.1950
1948

26. No.100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 25.09.1958

27. No.107 Indigenous and Tribal Population Convention, 1957 29.09.1958

28. No.111 Discrimination (Employment & Occupation) 03.06.1960

Convention, 1958
29. No.116 Final Articles Revision Convention, 1961 21.06.1962

30.# No.118 Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 19.08.1964

1962
31.@@ No.123 Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 20.03.1975
1965

32. No.115 Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 17.11.1975

33. No.141 Rural Workers' Organisation Convention, 1975 18.08.1977

34. No.144 Tripartite Consultation (International Labour 27.02.1978

Standards) Convention, 1976
35. No.136 Benzene Convention, 1971 11.06.1991

36.## No.160 Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 01.04.1992

37. No.147 Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards), 1976 26.09.1996

38. No.122 Employment Policy Convention 1964 17.11.1998

39. No.105 Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 18.05.2000

40. P89 Protocol of 1990 to the Night Work (Women) Convention

(Revised), 1948
41. No.108 Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958