THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948
AND
THE NATIONAL POLICY ON SAFETY,
HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
AT WORK PLACE IN INDIA
--Dr. M. RAJARAM*
*Dy. Director General and Head of the Department,
Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes,
Govt. of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment,
Sion, Mumbai 400 022
INTRODUCTION :
•
The Constitution of India has detailed provisions for
the rights of the citizens and lays down the
Directive Principles for securing the health and
strength of employees and humane conditions of
work
•
On the basis of these Directive Principles
Government of India is committed to regulate all
economic activities for management of safety and
health of every working man and woman in the
country.
•
The formulation of policy, priorities and strategies
in OSH at work places, is undertaken by National
Authorities in consultation with social partners for
fulfilling such objectives.
Contd….
THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948
*
The Factories Act, 1948, is a central enactment, deals
with occupational health and safety as well as welfare of
workers employed in a factory.
*
The Act is enforced by the Factory Directorates under the
State Governments and the administration of Union
Territories.(UT)
*
The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOL&E)in the
Central Government is accountable to Parliament for
ensuring uniform application of the Act throughout the
country by issuing model rules to be adopted by the State
Government and Union Territories with necessary
modifications to suit local needs.
Contd….
*
Ministry of Labour & Employment also ensures
coordination of activities of the State Factories
Directorates through its technical organization
Directorate General Factory Advice Service and
Labour Institutes (DGFASLI).
*
The Act empowers the State Governments to
declare any process or operation as dangerous and
to ensure protection of persons employed in the
operation or in the vicinity.
*
The Factory Rules lay down detailed instructions
regarding preventive measures, protective devices,
cautionary notices as well as medical examination
of workers.
Contd….
The Act list 29 Industries involving hazardous process,
Permissible Levels of certain chemicals substances in the
work environment of(116 Chemicals and their compounds),
List of 29 Occupational Diseases.
The act was comprehensively amended in 1987 in respect
of hazardous processes with salient features as:
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Constitution of site appraisal committee,
Compulsory disclosure of information by occupier,
Medical examination of workers exposed to
hazardous processes,
Laying down permissible limits of exposure of
chemical substances,
Participation of workers on safety and health
management,
Right of workers to warn about imminent dangers.
Contd….
THE SALIENT FEATURES OF THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948
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Chapter 1: Preliminary
Chapter II: The Inspecting Staff
Chapter III: Health
Chapter IV: Safety
Chapter IV-A: Provisions relating to hazardous processes
Chapter V: Welfare
Chapter VI: Working hours of Adults
Chapter VII: Employment of young persons
Chapter VIII: Annual leave with wages
Chapter IX: Special provisions
Chapter X: Penalties and Procedures
Chapter XI: Supplemental
THE FIRST SCHEDULE
: List of industries involving hazardous
processes
• THE SECOND SCHEDULE : Permissible levels of certain chemical
substances in work environment
• THE THIRD SCHEDULE
: List of notifiable diseases
Contd….
STATUS OF OSH IN INDIAN INDUSTRIES
Industrial Injuries from 2000 – 2007(P)
Frequency Rate (FR)
Incidence Rate (IR)
Year
Fatal
Injuries
Total
Injuries
Fatal
Injuries
Total
Injuries
Fatal
Injuries
Total
Injuries
2000
486
23976
0.07
3.6
0.22
10.93
2001
627
28364
0.07
3.24
0.19
8.67
2002
540
20453
0.13
4.88
0.16
6.14
2003
525
16432
0.08
2.50
0.11
3.33
2004
562
15020
0.05
1.33
0.08
2.21
2005
613
14776
0.05
1.27
0.09
2.06
2006
1068
19912
0.08
1.42
0.13
2.41
2007(P)
821
15290
0.09
1.73
0.10
1.91
P: Provisional
Source : Labour Bureau, Shimla. The coverage remains limited and varies from year
to year because all the states/UTs are not submitting annual returns regularly.
THE NATIONAL POLICY ON SAFETY, HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENT AT WORK PLACE
* The National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment
at Work Place was declared by Government of India on
the 20th February, 2009 at New Delhi during the Indian
Labour Conference.
The main objective and goal of this National Policy is :
* to eliminate the incidences of work related injuries, diseases,
fatalities, to mitigate disasters and to protect national assets
* to enhance the well being of the employees and society at large.
* The Government of India firmly believes that building
and maintaining a National Preventive Safety and Health
Culture needs to be developed in close involvement of
the social partners to meet the challenges ahead in the
assessment and control of work place risks by
Contd….
mobilizing local resources
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL POLICY BY
INVOLVING SOCIAL PARTNERS
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Providing an effective enforcement mechanism
Building a national occupational safety & health profile
Carrying out a national occupational disease profile
Carrying out research and development in the field of OSH
Ensuring suitable accreditation mechanism to recognize
institutions, professional and services
Providing a system of incentives to employer and
employees to achieve higher health and safety standards.
Increasing awareness on safety, health and environment
through appropriate means
Suitably incorporating teaching inputs on safety, health
and environment at work place in schools, technical,
medical, professional and vocational courses and distance
education programme
Data collection
Contd….
CONCLUSION
* The Government of India is committed to
implement the National Policy on Safety,
Health and Environment at Work Place
through tripartite consultations and
mobilization of available resources and
expertise of all concerned stake holders.
Contd….
THANK YOU