Workplace Safety and the Occupational Safety Code: What Employers Must Know

Workplace Safety and the Occupational Safety Code: What Employers Must Know

Workplace safety regulation in India has historically been fragmented across multiple legislations, each governing specific sectors or categories of workers. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code) represents the most significant attempt to consolidate and modernise this regulatory landscape. Passed by Parliament in September 2020 and receiving Presidential assent on 28 September 2020, the OSH Code is one of four labour codes intended to replace India's complex web of existing labour laws with a streamlined, unified framework.

Consolidation of 13 Existing Laws

The OSH Code subsumes and replaces thirteen existing central labour legislations:

1. The Factories Act, 1948
2. The Mines Act, 1952
3. The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
4. The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
5. The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
6. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
7. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
8. The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955
9. The Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958
10. The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
11. The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976
12. The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
13. The Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981

This consolidation is intended to eliminate overlaps, reduce compliance complexity, and create a single point of reference for employers on occupational safety, health, and working conditions.

Applicability Thresholds

The OSH Code applies to establishments based on defined employee thresholds:

• Factories: Establishments employing ten or more workers where manufacturing is carried on with the aid of power, or twenty or more workers without the aid of power
• Mines, docks, and plantations: Applicable regardless of the number of workers employed
• Building and construction work: Applicable to all establishments and contractors employing ten or more workers
• Other establishments: The appropriate government may notify thresholds for other categories of establishments

Significantly, the OSH Code also introduces provisions covering inter-state migrant workers, contract labour, and gig and platform workers in certain contexts — broadening the safety net beyond the traditional employer-employee relationship.

Key Provisions

The OSH Code introduces several important provisions that employers must understand:

• Working hours: No worker shall be required or allowed to work for more than eight hours in a day. The spread-over period (the span between the start and end of the work day, including breaks) shall not exceed ten and a half hours. Overtime is permitted but must be compensated at twice the ordinary rate of wages.
• Annual leave: Workers are entitled to one day of leave for every twenty days of work performed during the previous calendar year. Workers who have not completed 240 days of continuous service in a year are entitled to proportionate leave.
• Welfare facilities: Employers are required to provide welfare facilities including adequate washing facilities, canteens (in establishments employing more than a specified number of workers), first aid facilities, and rest rooms. The specific thresholds and requirements will be defined in the rules framed by the central and state governments.
• Safety standards: Employers must ensure that the workplace is free from hazards likely to cause injury or occupational disease. This includes maintenance of plant and machinery, safe use and handling of chemicals, provision of personal protective equipment, and adequate ventilation, lighting, and temperature control.
• Health examinations: Workers engaged in hazardous processes are entitled to health examinations at prescribed intervals at the employer's expense.

Employer Duties and Obligations

The OSH Code places specific duties on employers, which include:

1. Registration: Every establishment covered under the Code must register with the appropriate authority. The Code introduces a single registration process, replacing the multiple registrations previously required under different laws.
2. Appointment of safety officers: Factories and other establishments meeting prescribed thresholds must appoint safety officers to oversee compliance.
3. Safety committee: Establishments employing a prescribed number of workers must constitute a safety committee with representation from both management and workers.
4. Reporting of accidents and diseases: Employers must report all workplace accidents, dangerous occurrences, and cases of occupational disease to the prescribed authority. Failure to report is an offence under the Code.
5. Maintenance of records: Employers must maintain registers and records as prescribed, including records of workers employed, wages paid, leave taken, accidents reported, and inspections conducted.

Penalties and Enforcement

The OSH Code introduces a graded penalty structure:

• General offences: Contravention of any provision of the Code or rules carries a penalty of up to two lakh rupees for a first offence and up to five lakh rupees for subsequent offences.
• Offences resulting in death or serious bodily injury: Where contravention results in an accident causing death or serious bodily injury, the employer is liable for imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine of up to five lakh rupees, or both.
• Repeat offences: For repeat offences resulting in death or serious injury, the imprisonment may extend to three years with a minimum of six months, along with a fine of up to ten lakh rupees.

The Code also introduces the concept of compounding of offences — allowing certain offences to be settled by payment of a compounding fee, provided the contravention does not involve death or serious bodily injury.

Current Implementation Status

As of early 2026, the OSH Code has received Presidential assent but its effective implementation is pending. Labour being a concurrent subject under the Indian Constitution, both the central government and state governments must frame rules under the Code before it can be notified and enforced. Several states have published draft rules, but the nationwide rollout remains a work in progress. Employers are advised to familiarise themselves with the Code's provisions now and begin aligning their internal policies and practices in anticipation of enforcement.

The OSH Code represents a once-in-a-generation consolidation of India's occupational safety framework. Employers who prepare proactively — rather than waiting for enforcement — will find themselves better positioned to comply, better protected from liability, and better able to demonstrate their commitment to worker safety and welfare.

For HR teams, the immediate action items are clear: audit current safety practices against the Code's requirements, identify gaps, and begin the process of updating policies, training programmes, and documentation to align with the new framework. The transition from thirteen separate laws to a single code is a simplification, but only for those who invest the effort to understand and implement it correctly.