Occupational Safety Code

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code, 2020 was enacted by the Parliament to consolidate and amend the laws regulating the occupational safety, health and working conditions of the persons employed in an establishment. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) taking suo moto cognizance of a newspaper report that on average three persons died and 11 were injured each day between 2017 and 2022 due to accidents in registered factories has brought to the fore the ground realities of the OSH Code in the country. An official statement issued by the NHRC states that the report attributes the statistics to official data from the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI). The rights body has issued notices to all the Chief Secretaries/ Principal Secretaries, the Department of Labour of all the States and Union Territories to provide detailed reports concerning the death/incapacity of workers/employees due to accidents in the factories in their jurisdictions and the compensation paid to the injured/next of kin of the deceased, prosecution initiated against the occupier/factory owners and the number of safety officers employed as per Section 40B of the Factories Act, 1948. It notes that as many as 3,331 deaths were recorded between 2018 and 2020 but only 14 people were imprisoned for offences under the Act subsumed in the OSHWC Code. State Government shall be the appropriate Government in respect of occupational safety, health and working conditions in a factory situated in that State. These statistics could be the tip of an iceberg as the NHRC statement points out that the data collected by DGFASLI from Chief Inspectors of Factories and Directors of Industrial Safety and Health covers only registered factories, whereas 90% of workers in India are employed in the informal sector. The Commission feels that considering the gravity of the matter as highlighted in the newspaper raises serious concerns about the human rights of the workers in various business enterprises, including factories and expressed the view that human rights risk can be mitigated at the stage of structuring contracts or other agreements between employers and employees within the purview of law giving due importance to the concept of business and human Rights. Detailed report to be provided by the States and Union Territories is expected to throw light on the actual status of occupation safety of factory workers and the status of implementation of the OSHWC Code in the country. The NHRC has sought year-wise reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories taking measures against defaulting factory owners including prosecution for the period from 2017 to 2022 and measures taken by the States / UTs for effective implementation of the various provisions of the Factories Act, 1948. Several incidents of tea estate workers accidentally entering the machine of factories and sustaining severe injuries and a worker dying after getting stuck in a concrete crushing machine, the incidence of electrical maintenance workers electrocuted in Assam last year triggered questions regarding safety measures at workplaces in factories in the state and if it were overlooked by factory inspectors. The fundamental purpose of the National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at the workplace, is not only to eliminate the incidence of work-related injuries, diseases, fatalities, disasters and loss of national assets and ensuring the achievement of a high level of occupational safety, health and environment performance through proactive approaches but also to enhance the well-being of the employee and society, at large. Apart from enforcement and compliance, the national policy also underscores the importance of awareness in improving occupational safety and working condition. One such awareness drive envisages providing practical guidance and encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the incidence of occupational safety and health risks at their places of employment and to impress upon employers and employees to institute new programmes and to improve existing programmes for providing safe and healthful working conditions, requiring employers to ensure that workers and their representatives are consulted, trained, informed and involved in all measures related to their safety and health at work. The policy states that particular attention needs to be paid to the hazardous operations and of employees in risk-prone conditions and points out that the increasing use of chemicals, exposure to physical, chemical and biological agents with hazard potential unknown to people; the indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals including pesticides, agricultural machinery and equipment; industries with major accident risks; effects of computer-controlled technologies and alarming influence of stress at work in many modern jobs pose serious safety, health and environmental risks. Strengthening Labour departments in states through recruitment of more factory inspectors, application of digital technology for monitoring of safety standards, and intensification of awareness drive among employers and workers can help prevent accidents in factories. States prioritizing the implementation of the OSHWC Code is the need of the hour.