OHS Profile India

Health and Safety at Work
ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health

(Indian Council of Medical Research)
(Department of Health Research)
[Ministry of Health & Family Welfare]
Ahmedabad-380016, India
Guidance/Suggestions
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan DG, ICMR & Secretary OHR, MoHFW,

Govt. of India
Dr. VM Katoch Former DG, ICMR & Secretary OHR,
MoHFW, Govt. of India
Dr. H N Saiyed Former Director, NIOH & Ex WHO Program
Officer (Occupational & Environmental Health)
Dr. TKJoshi Former Director, COEH, Maulana Azad
Medical College, Delhi, India
First Edition-June 2017
DISCLAIMER
This document embodies the information on OHS by collecting printed/online
information from various government agencies/institutes, MoLE, MoHFW and
websites of various organizations NGO's/WHO/ILO and research papers with
regards to OSH. The Acts, regulations, Legislative rules, Laws and demographic/
occupational related data are mentioned exactly as quoted in the respective
document. Though the sources are cited, the author, however, doesn't assume and
hereby claim any liability to part or any part of effor in way of addition, omission,
alteration the sequence due to an inadvertent negligence, accident or any cases.
However, the plagiarism check is done for the rest of the document.
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='1t:m1~~~....,~1~ili. ~ ~ ~ 3ffi Indian Council of Medical Research
Dr. Soumya Swamlnathan Department of Health Research
MO. FASc. FNASc. FAMS Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Secretary to the Government of Indla V. Ramalingaswarni Bhawan, Ansari Nager
Department of Health Research New Delhi-11 O 029 (INDIA)
Ministry of Health & Family Wettare
&
Director-Gene ral, ICMR
Foreword
Transformation in the world of work along with the constant changing climate
is triggering a vicious cycle around the health and safety of the workforce. The WHO
statement of complete physical, mental and social well-being is under threat in this
fast paradigm shift in the occupational arena. This in turn is reflected in the numerous
occupational health concerns beyond the traditional archetype of diagnosis,
treatment and management system in India.
I am happy to note that National Institute of Occupational health has taken up

the responsibility to bring out the document on National Profile of Occupational Health
Safety- India 2017. I believe it is a worthy effort, compiling information on occupational
health and safety of the country. I hope this OHS profile would acquaint researchers,
scholars, policy makers and stakeholders on occupational health status, legislative
information and framework, management system, occupational injuries and diseases
and its management with respect to India.
I congratulate the Director-in-Charge, and staff oftheir N IOH for his efforts, as
well as all experts for their guidance in accomplishing such an endevour, which I
expect would serve as a good reference among occupational heal7 ionals.
(Soumyasw~
From Director-in-Charge
This document on Occupational Health and Safety Profile - lndia'2017 is
prepared with the view to have a current profile of India on this issue so that necessary
steps can be taken to improve the workers and environmental health in the country.
This profile provides a systematic review based upon the information available from
various sources on the national OHS system and also the remarkable improvements
made in recent years on various issues associated with OHS in India. In addition to
providing basic data on the key parameters that affect the sound management of
occupational health practices, information about demographic and problems faced
with respect to OHS in the country is also incorporated.
Health care should be within the reach of every worker. For providing basic
health facilities to all workers and workplace safety, government has introduced and
implemented various health schemes and programs for the workers and work place in
the organized sectors. However, vast numbers of workers are working in unorganized
sectors where the OHS services are limited. Occupational Health is a persistent
activity aimed at promotion and maintenance of maximum degree of physical, mental
and social well-being of workforces in all occupations.
We hope that this document will serve the purpose about the comprehensive
information on OHS issues of the country to assess at single point for workers,
citizens, healthcare professionals and researchers. So that stake holder of OHS may
look the data on various aspects of occupational health, safety and environment. This
will assist various agencies to take various issues pertaining to improvement of
worker's health and also look for the environment. The various agencies can also
consider the future need with respect to HRD in the area of occupational and
environmental health in the country as India is fast moving towards achieving the
status ofa developed country.
I am thankful to Dr. Anupama Sharma (PDF), Ms. Ksh Chaoba Devi,

Ms. Shruti Patel, Ms. Annie Soju and Ms. Prathana Trivedi for their assistance in
collecting and compilation of the information.
~
June, 2017, (Dr. Sunil Kumar)
Ahmadabad, India
Contents
Chap 1: General demographic information 1- 6
a) Demographic data
b) Profile-Economic and Health
c) Population- Rural and Urban Distribution
d) Levels of literacy
e) Labour force
f) Global vs. National Scenario
Chap 2: Occupational health and safety legislative framework 7 -15

and national review mechanisms
a) Reference to OHS requirements in the constitution

b) Laws, acts and regulations
c) State factories directorates/ chief inspector of factories
d) Role of ILO standards
e) Safety, Health & Welfare Legislation for Mines
f) National Review Mechanisms of OHS
Chap 3: Coordination and collaboration mechanisms 16-19
a) At the national level

b) At the enterprise level
Chap 4: OSH technical standards, guidelines 20-23

and management systems
a) OSH management system at enterprise level:

b) OSH technical Standards
c) Certification
d) Laboratory Testing, Calibration and Management
e) Standards Promotion
f) International cooperation
g) National Institute for training for standardization
h) Enforcement
Chap 5: Statistics of factories at a glance and human 24-30
resources in area of OSH?
a) Overview on statistics of factories at a glance

b) Human resource in area of OHS
Chap 6: OSH system implementation: means and tools 31-42
a) Occupational health and services-Indian scenario

b) Education, training and rising of awareness
c) Health care institutions and role of
Non-Governmental Organizations
Chap 7: Occupational accidents and diseases 43-69
a) Occupational injuries, accidents & diseases

b) Diseases
c) Metal Toxicity
d) Mining Industry
e) Women in industry: Health & safety
f) Occupational health & safety of young workers
Chap 8: Policies and programs of employers' and 70-77

workers' organizations
a) Organized and unorganized sectors

b) Synopsis of social security laws
c) Insurance schemes
d) Three major non-contributory laws
Chap 9: Suggestions to strengthen OHS 78-85
a) Constraints/suggestions
b) The working group on occupational safety and health (2012-2017) of
MoLE, Govt. of India suggestions
Abbreviations 1-11
Chapter 1
General Demographic Information
General information
India is the seventh largest country of the world with a surface area of 3,
287,263 sq km including Land of 2,973, 193 sq km and Water of 314,070 sq km. The
country is situated in the Southern Asia region bordering the Bay of Bengal and
Arabian Sea, between Myanmar in east and Pakistan in the west. India has borders
with number of countries such as Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, China, and
Pakistan. The top five countries with respect to populations are China, India, USA,
Indonesia and Brazil in descending order. Presently, India is the second most
populous country in the world and is projected to become the most populous country in
the world bytheyear2050.
It is one of the fast developing countries in the world. India is the world's
largest democracy and has a parliamentary system and hold elections on a regular
basis once in every five years to elect the popular government. Parliament or Sansad
of the country consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha which is the upper
house of parliament (consisting of 245 seats, upto 12 of which are appointed by the
president of India, the rest chosen by elected members of the state and territorial
assemblies; members of Rajya sabha serve six-year terms) and the People's
Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 members elected by popular vote rest 2 are
appointed by the president of India; Lok sabha members function five-year terms).
India has a total of 29 states and 7 union territories and these are further divided and
subdivided into districts and circles for administrative purposes, with New Delhi as the
nation's capital. In addition, India is also known for its cultural diversity which is the
strength for unity and integrity of the country. India, presents varieties of physical and
cultural patterns, land of languages and religions .
•
Figure 1 shows the data available as per 2013 with respect to different sectors
contribution to GDP in South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
countries. The data revealed that most of the countries of the South Asian region
depend upon service sector, industrial and agricultural sectors, except Maldives
where service sector is significantly dominated upon industrial and agricultural
sectors. Owing to these, it can be postulated that OHS problems are more or less
same in these South East Asian countries and similar approaches can be adopted for
the improvement of OHS in this part of the world.
CONTRIBUTION TO GDP BY SECTORS (2013)

• Agriculture • Industries . Services
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 Bangladesh
- - -- - Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Srilanka Afghnistan
(2010) (2012)
Figure 1: Different sectors contributed to GDP in SAARC countries (2013)

Ref: WDI 2014 Key Indicators ofAsia and Pacific, 2014
1.1 Demographic data

Population growth rate of India is higher than the most populous country of the
world i.e. China. According to 2013 estimation, India houses over 1.25 billion people in
the country. The data indicated that, about 32 % of total population is residing in urban
area and rest is residing in rural area of India as per 2013 estimations (Table 1.1 ). A
report indicates that India will surpass China in near future with respect to population
and become most populous country in the world. Age structure in the country revealed
that about 29% population are in <15 years of age and only about 8% of the population
are above the age of 60 years (Table 1 .1 ) .
•
Table 1.1. India Statistical Population Profile (2013)
.... ~~~~~~~~=========;~====~~~~~~~~=====
Variable
Statistics
1 Population 1252140 (thousands)
2 Population aged under 15 29 (%)
3 Population aged over 60 8 (%)
4 Median age 26 (years)
5 Population living in urban areas 32 (%)
1.1.1 Profile- Economic and Health

The country profile with respect to economic and health is depicted in Table 1.2.
The data suggested that total fertility is 2.5 per women and coverage of birth
registration carried out was reported to be 84% whereas cause of death registration
coverage was only 8%. The data revealed that India fall under lower middle income
country as per World Bank income classification with 5350 $per captia income.
Table 1.2. India Statistical Profile- Economic and Health
Variable Statistics
Total fertility rate 2.5(per woman) 2013
2 Number of live birth 25595.2(thousands) 2013
3 Number of deaths 9944.9(thousands) 2013
4 Birth registration coverage 84(%) 2011
5 Cause of death registration coverage 8(%) 2007

5350 (Purchasing Power 2013
6 Gross national income per capita
Parity current $)
7 World Bank income classification Lower middle 2013
Ref- http://www.who.inUgho/countries/ind.pdf
•
1.2 Population - rural urban distribution
About 833 million people live in rural area, which is more than two-third of total
population of the country. Rural-urban distribution is 68.84% and 31.16%. Level of
urbanization has increased from 27.8% in 2001to31.2% in 2011.
Ref: http://censusindia.gov. in/2011-provresu lts/paper2/data_files/india/Rural_Urban_2011. pdf
1.3 Levels ofliteracy

Literacy is defined as the person with age of 15 years and above who can read
and write. As per 2011 census, the overall literacy rate in India was 74.04%. Among
male and female, the literacy rate was 82.14% and 65.46% respectively. However, the
difference between male and female in the literacy rate has been declining fast during
last decade.
Ref: www.census2011.eo.in/literacy.php
1.4 Labor force

A person who has participated in any productive activity with and without
compensation or profit is defined as a worker. As per 2011 census, a total of about
-482 million labor work forces are available in the country. It is the second largest labor
workforce in the whole world after China. About 94% labor workforces are employed in
unorganized sectors and rest are employed in organized sectors in India. Occupation
wise(%) labor force in the country is shown in the Table 1.3.
Table 1.3. Category of workers India: 2011 Total workers-482 million (main+marginal)
Occupation Workforce (Percentage )

Cultivators 24.6%
Agricultural Laborers 30.0%
Household Industries Workers 3.8%
Other Workers 41.6%
•
There are 1.26 crore working children (5-14 years) with respect to 25.2 crore
child population and approximately half of them (12 lakhs children) were working in the
hazardous occupations/processes and this is covered under the "Child Labour
Prohibition & Regulation Act i.e. 18 occupations and 65 processes" as per 2001
census. Later, National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) reported 90.75 lakh
working children in 2004-05. The number of working children (5-14 years) has further
declined to 43.53 lakh as per Census 2011. This decline shows the sincere efforts of
Government as well as various organizations to bring down or stop child labor in the
country. Ref: http:/llabour.gov.in!childlabour/about-child-labour
Despite the uneven distribution of workforce in various occupations, the
unorganized or informal sectors dominate in the Indian growth, development and
economy. The following Table 1.4 shows the distribution of various occupational
workforce categories of unorganized sector.
Table 1.4. Occupational categories in different sector (2004-05)

Share of Share of
Category/Description Unorganized Organized
Sector(%) Sector(%)
A Private Households with Employed Persons 100 0
B Agriculture and Forestry 99.9 0.1
c Fishing 98.7 1.3
D Wholesale and Retail Trade 98.3 1.7
E Hotel & Restaurants 96.7 3.3
F Other Community, Social & Personal Services 92.5 7.5
G Construction 92.4 7.6
H Extra Territorial Organizations and Bodies 87.8 12.2
I Manufacturing 87.7 12.3
J Transport, Storage & Communication 82.2 17.8
K Real Estate, Renting and Business activities 81.4 18.6
L Mining 64.4 35.6
M Health and Social work 55.1 44.9
N Education 37.9 62.1
0 Financial Intermediation 32.4 67.6
p Electricity, Gas, Water supply 12.4 87.6
Q Public Administration and Defense, etc. 2.6 97.4
Ref- http:llwww.lmis.gov.inlsites/defaultlfiles/NSC-report-unorg-sector-statistics.pdf
•
Global vs. National Scenario
Dramatic changes have been taken placed in the global labor force due to
globalization and population growth. Around 2.9 billion workers across the world are
exposed to harmful risks at their workplaces. More than 80% of world's workers reside
in the developing world and these countries share global burden of occupational
disease and injuries disproportionately. The situation in India is also in similar horizon
with additional liability of exponential industrial growth with inadequate health care
delivery system, lack of sanitation and prevalence of infectious diseases. India
contributed 1.9 million cases (17%) out of 11 million occupational disease cases and
0.12 (17%) million deathsoutof0.7 million deaths in the world (NIHFW).
Ref-http://www.nihfw.org!Nationa/HealthProgramme/NATIONALPROGRAMMEFORCONTROL.html
The government has taken up various measures to improve the health cafl
delivery system as well as launched ~agship program on
"Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" in order to impro~
sanitation in the country.
•
Chapter 2
Occupational Health, Safety Legislative Framework

and National Review Mechanisms
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is an area concerned with health,

safety and welfare of the people engaged in every occupation irrespective of sex,
religion, region, age etc. The OHS is necessary for welfare of workers as well as
employers. This in turn is beneficial to the country as a whole. Therefore, certain laws,
regulations, and provisions were made by the government of India time to time in order
to promote OHS at work place and safeguard worker's health as well as worker's
interest. These regulations were also amended time to time by the government as per
the requirement of worker's benefit.
National Regulatory Framework

2.1 Reference to OHS requirements in the constitution
Labor is a subject in the synchronized list where both the Central and State
Governments are able to sanction legislation subject to specific matters being
reserved for the Central Government as per the Indian Constitution. Occupational
Safety & Health is one of the subjects allotted to the Ministry of Labor & Employment
(MoLE) under the Government of India, Allocation of Business Rules. MoLE, Govt. of
India & Labor Departments of the States & Union Territories is responsible for the
safety & health of the workers. Directorate General of Factory Advice Service & Labor
Institutes (DGFASLI, Mumbai) and Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS,
Dhanbad) help the Ministry in the technical aspects of Occupational Health & Safety in
factories & port sectors and mines respectively1. Liaison with International Labor
Organization (ILO) and other countries is carried out by the Ministry2.
Ref: 'http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrpl2/wg_occup_safety.pdf
2
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/working_group/chap_ 1.htm
•
2.2 Laws, acts and regulations
The OHS services are governed by various health & safety statutes for
regulating health & safety of persons at work with respect to four sectors namely,
factories, ports & docks, mining and construction, and these statutes are sector-
specific. The approach in these statutes is to lay down specific and detailed
requirements to prevent risk of injuries in specific operations and circumstances in
these sectors.
2.2.1 The Factories Act, 1948 and Amended in 1987

"The Factories Act, 1948 is applicable to all those units where manufacturing
process is carried out by employing 10 or more workers with the aid of power or 20 or
more workers are employed without the aid ofpower or where the state government is
of the opinion that the manufacturing process or operations carried out, exposes the
individuals employed in it to a severe risk of bodily injury, poisoning or disease. The
objective of the Factories Act, 1948 is to secure health, safety, welfare, working hours,
leave and other benefits of workers employed in the factories".
2.2.2 The Dock Workers (Safety, Health & Welfare) Act, 1986 and the
regulations, 1990
"The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 aims at providing
facilities for health, safety and welfare of workers employed in loading, unloading,
movement or storage of cargoes into or from ship, port, dock, etc. DGFASLI is
appointed as the Chief Inspector of Dock Safety and enforces the Act in the major
ports of India through the Inspectorates of Dock Safety. The Central Government has
notified the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations, 1990 which is
applicable to the 12 major ports of the country. These regulations should be extended
to non-major ports of India also.
The important features covered in the Regulations framed under Dock
Worker Act is related to barrier of dangerous places, work on staging, proper
illumination, fire safety protection, enough working spaces in ships, dangerous and
•
harmful environment, construction, maintenance and testing of lifting appliances,
loose gears and wire ropes, transport equipment, handling of cargo, stacking and
unstacking, handling of dangerous goods and containers, reporting of accidents and
occupational diseases, appointment of safety and welfare officers, cleanliness,
washing facilities, first aid, canteens, rest sheds, medical examination and training of
dock workers, occupational health seNices, emergency action plans for employers
and employee's general obligations etc".
2.2.3 The Mines Act 1952

"Mines Act, 1952 deals with the matters relating to safety, health and welfare
of persons employed in various mines including oil mines. The Act specifies the
provisions for regulating employment of persons, leave with wages, duties and
responsibilities of owner, agent and manager, drinking water, first-aid and rest
shelters, medical examinations and occupational health suNeys, notice of accidents
and occupational diseases. In addition, it covers framing of rules, regulations and
byelaws on specific subjects including the penalty provisions for violations of this A cf'.
Ref: https://toxicswatch.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/occupational-safety-and-health-september-2011.pdf
2.2.4 The Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996

Building and construction laborers are one of the major and vulnerable sections
of the unorganized labor sectors of the country. These works are characterized by
their nature of risk to the life and limbs injury of the workers. The work is also regarded
by casual nature, temporary affiliation between employer and employee, indefinite
1
working hours, lack of basic amenities and rudimentary of welfare facilities • However,
the government made various provisions for construction worker's welfare. Recent
data on building and construction activities indicated that in India, - 4.4 crore workers
are employed in this sector (National Sample Survey conducted by NSSO in 2009-
2010)2.
Ref: 'http://clc.gov.in/clc/clcold/Acts/shtm/bocw.php
2
http://labourbu re au .n ic. in/I LYB_2011_2012.pdf
•
"The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulations of Employment
and Conditions of SeNice) Act, 1996 aims at regulating the employment and
conditions of services of building and other construction workers and provisions for
their safety, health and welfare measures".
Ref: https://toxicswotch.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/occupotional-safety-and-health-september-2011.pdf
"The Building and Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and

Conditions of Service) Third Ordinance, 1996 provides following measures:
Fixing hours for normal working days, weekly paid rest day, wages for over time,
provision of basic welfare: amenities like drinking water, latrines and urinals, creches,
first aid, canteens, etc.
1. Arrangement can be made for temporary living accommodation within or near

the work site.
2. Making adequate provisions for safety and health measures including

formation of safety committees and safety officers for notification of
accidents.
3. Empowering the Central Government to frame model rules for safety

measures headed by Director-General of Inspection at the Central Level and
Inspector General at the State Level.
4. Application of the Employer Compensation Act, 1923 to building and other
construction workers".
Ref: http://clc.gov.inlclc/clcold/Acts/shtmlbocw.php
2.2.5 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

"The Act bans employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16
occupations and 65 processes that are hazardous to the children's lives and health.
These occupations and processes are listed in the Schedule under the Act. In October
2006, Government has included children working in the domestic sector as well as
roadside eateries and motels under the prohibited list of hazardous occupations.
Later, in September 2008, process involving excessive heat (e.g. working near a
•
furnace) and cold; mechanical fishing; food processing; beverage industry; timber
handling and loading; mechanical lumbering; warehousing; and processes involving
exposure to free silica such as slate pencil industry, stone grinding, slate stone mining,
stone quarries and agate industry were also added in the list ofprohibited occupations
1
and processes • Further, Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment, 2016
came into force on July 30, 201 ff".
1
Ref: http://indianlawwatch.com/practice/amending-law-child-labour/
2
http://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/THE%20CHILD%20LABOUR%20%28PROHIBITION%20AND%20REGULA
TION%29%20AMENDMENT%20ACT%2C%202016_0.pdf
2.3 State Factories Directorates/ Chief Inspector ofFactories

"The provisions under the Factories Act, 1948 and the State Factories Rules
in every State Inspectorate of Factories is to be established which enforces the
Factories A ct 1948 and the State Factories Rules and other labor related statutes such
as the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986; the Maternity Benefit Act,
1961; The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 etc. as relating to factories. The
factory Inspectors are employed at local and district levels for controlling the
provisions of these statutes. The Inspectorates of Factories are also manned with
specialists in the field of occupational health and industrial hygiene at the
Inspectorates of Factories headquarters to extend support to field inspectors at district
levef'.
Ref:www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/ed_protect/protrav/safework/documents/policy/wcms_211795.pdf
2.4 Role of International Labour Organization (ILO) standards

"While framing the legislations with respect to occupational safety and health,
the Government of India, as one of the founding members of the /LO derives
inspiration from the various conventions, recommendations and codes of practices
framed by /LO. The /LO has adopted 182 conventions and 190 recommendations
encompassing subjects such as worker's fundamental rights, worker's protection,
social security, labor welfare, occupational safety, migrant labor, women and child
labor, indigenous and tribal people, etc".
Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/working_group/chap_l.htm
•
2.4.1 ILO Conventions Ratified by India
"There are 41 ILO conventions and 1 protocol ratified by India. Earlier, India
had ratified 43 conventions but later denounced Convention No.2 and Convention
No.41. There are 8 core conventions out of which India have ratified 4. India has
ratified 3 out of 4 governance conventions and 36 out of 177 technical conventions".
Ref: http://www.mfcindia.org/main/bgpapers/bgpapers2013/am/bgpap2013c. pdf
http://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/gyanesh.pdf
OSH related conventions are:
"Convention No. 16 Medical examination of young persons (Sea)

Convention, 1921, ratified on 20 November 1922 Convention concerning the
Compulsory Medical Examination of Children and Young Persons Employed at Sea
(Entry into force: 20Nov1922)Adoption: Geneva, 3rd /LC session (11Nov1921)
Ref:http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:l2100:0::NO::P12100_/NSTRUMENT_ID:312161
Convention No. 18 Employee's Compensation (Occupational Diseases)

Convention, 1925, ratified on 30September1927
Convention No. 19 Equality of treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention
1925, ratified on 30September1927
Convention No. 32 Protection againstAccidents (Dockers) Convention
(Revised) 1932, ratified on 10 January 1947
Convention No.42 Employee's Compensation (Occupational Diseases)
Convention 1934, ratified on 13January1964
Convention No. 174 Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents, ratified on 6 June
2008''
Ref:http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11200:0::NO::P11200_1NSTRUMENT_SORT,P11200_
COUNTRY_ID:2,102691
2.5 Safety, Health and Welfare Legislation for Mines administered by DGMS
Mines Act, 1952
> "Mines Rules, 1955

> Coal Mines Regulations, 1957
> Metalliferous Mines Regulations, 1961
•
);> Mines Creche Rules, 1966
);> Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966
);> Oil Mines Regulations, 1984
);> Mines Rescue Rules, 1985
Electricity Act, 2003

Central Electricity Authority (Measure relating to Safety and electric
Supply) Regulation, 2010
Allied Legislation
Explosive Rules, 2008
Factories Act, 1948: Chapter Ill & IV
Manufacture, Storage & Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 -

under Environmental Protection Act, 1986
Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885
The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Act, 1974"
Table 2.1. Status of ILO conventions related to mines
•1;.1.e; .m.1.1 Subject Status
1 1 Hours of work Ratified by Govt.
2 14 Weekly rest Ratified by Govt.
3 45 Underground work (women) Ratified by Govt.
4 89 Night work (women) Ratified by Govt.
5 90 Night work (young person's) Provided in the Mines Act
Minimum age for employment

6 123 Ratified by Govt.
in underground
7 127 Maximum permissible weight

Not ratified
for carrying
Contd ......
•
8 132 Holidays with pay (revised} Not ratified
9 139 OH hazards from carcinogens Not ratified
10 142 VT in development of human resources Many aspects provided
in MinesAct
Not ratified. Many aspects

11 148 Working environment provided in the Mines Act
12 Not ratified. Many aspects

150 Labour administration provided in the Mines Act
Not ratified. Many aspects

13 155 Occupational Health Services provided in the Mines Act
Not ratified. Limited

14 174 Major Industrial Accidents
application in mining
15 175 Part time work Not ratified

16 176 OSH in mines Not ratified
17 161 OH Services Not ratified
18 162 Asbestos Not ratified
19 170 Chemicals Not ratified

Ref-http://dgms.gov.in/writereadata/UploadFile/
2.6 National Review Mechanisms of OHS

The Constitution of India made certain provisions for rights of the principles to
be followed by the States in the governance of the country which is labeled as
"Directive Principles of State Policy''. These Directive Principles offer the following:
a) "To protect the health and strength of workers (men and women)
b) The tender age of children is not abused
c) Citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter occupations
unsuitable to their age or strength,
d) Just and humane conditions of work environment and maternity relief are to
be provided and
e) Govt. shall take steps, by suitable legislature, to secure the participation of
workers in the management, establishments or other organizations engaged
in any industry'' .
•
Owing to above directive principles, the Indian Govt. declares its policy,
priorities and strategies, purposes through the exercise of its power, and is committed
to regulate all economic activities among the states for management of occupational
safety and health risks and to provide measures for protection of national assets and
for the general welfare to assure for every working man and woman in the nation &are
in safe and healthy working condition and to preserve human resources. Government
of India firmly believes that without safe and healthy working conditions, social justice
cannot be achieved and so that attainment of safety and health at workplace is
fundamental to economic growth of the country.
The OSH branch of the MoLE conducts the overall functions related to policy
decisions and setting the guidelines for adoption. Most of the legislation on safety and
health are Central Government legislations, the Ministry performs the important
function of piloting the bills through Parliament after inter-ministerial discussions and
consultations with the State Govt. and organizations of employers and employees.
In addition, government also take suggestions on formulation and

implementation of national policy on OHS from various stakeholders and arranged
meetings, workshop and established working/ taskforce groups etc. to look OHS
issues for betterment of worker's health and workplace environment. The Planning
Commission, Govt. of India, had set up a working group on OHS under the Secretary,
MoLE, Govt. of India No. 020017/7/11-LEM/LP dated April th,2011 to look after
occupational health and safety aspects in the country. Now, Govt. of India replaces the
planning commission with NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in
2015.
•
Chapter 3
Coordination and Collaboration Mechanisms
The government of India promulgated some rules, regulations and guidelines

time to time in order to make sure that employers should provide healthy workplace
free from recognized hazards for safety and health of the workers. For this purpose,
there should be mechanisms for collaborative efforts to achieve the goal of 0 HS in the
country. Therefore, Govt. had made certain mechanisms to implement the OHS in the
country.
3.1 At National Level
OSH is under the directive of Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE). The
ministry carried out enforcement through the Directorate of Industrial Safety and
Health (DISH) at state levels that operate with help of medical inspectors of factories
and factory inspecting engineers. Occupational healthcare system operates at
different levels in the country. DGFASLI working under MoLE provides support to the
State implementing agencies to give training and education in the area of OHS to all
the stakeholders. DGFASLI also provide the following assistance to implement OHS
in the country.
• "Helps in drafting statutory guidelines and regulations
• Conduct intervention studies in order to evaluate the prevalence of

occupational diseases and disorders
• The data from such studies are used to understand and judge the magnitude
of the problem in the country that can be included in the National Planning and
Programming"
Ref: http://www.amrc.org.hk/sites/defaulUfiles/Occupational%20status%20report%20-%201ndia.pdf
•
After the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, the Factories Act (1948)was amended in
1987 and a chapter on OHS was introduced under the act in order to take care of
workers working in hazardous industries or operations. This covers pre-employment
check-up, periodical medical examinations and periodical work environment
monitoring which is mandatory for the hazardous industries under the Act. For
different chemicals, the maximum permissible limit has also been recommended. The
implementation agency for the act is the State Factory/ Labor Inspectorate assisted by
a few industrial hygiene laboratories. There are similar provisions of regulation under
the MinesActalso.
Ref: http://www.amrc.org.hk/sites/default/files/Occupational%20status%20report%20%201ndia.pdf
As per Section 91 Aof Indian FactoriesAct 1948 safety and occupational health
surveys are indispensable which includes the Chief Inspector, or the DGFASLI, or the
Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Govt. of India, or such other officer as
authorized by the State Govt. They may conduct safety and occupational health
surveys at any time during the regular working hours of a factory, or at any other time
as is found necessary, after giving notice to the owner/manager of the factory and
occupier/manager of the factory shall provide all necessary facilities for such survey
which comprises examination and testing facilities of plant and machinery, collection
of samples and other relevant data. Thus, the collection of the relevant data and
regular inspection are carried out at factories which reduce the possibilities of the
occurrence of occupational accidents and injuries at workplace.
The provisions related to involvement of the workers and safety officers' is

given in chapter IV of Safety of Indian Factories Act 1948- Section 408. It is obligatory
to the owner to employee safety officers where usually :s; 1000 workers are employed,
or in State Govt. opinion, any manufacturing process or operation that involves any
risk of bodily injury, poisoning or disease or any other hazard to health of the workers,
the occupier shall, if so required by the State Government by notification in Official
Gazette, employ such number of Safety Officers as may be specified in that
•
notification. The State Govt. prescribes the duties, qualifications and conditions of the
services of Safety Officers as per the provisions relating to Hazardous Processes
Section 41 G.
Workers Participation in Safety Management

In any factory wherein hazardous substances are used or hazardous process
are occurring, the occupier shall establish a Safety Committee comprising equal
number of representatives from both workers and management side to promote
cooperation in maintaining proper safety and health at workplace and to review the
safety steps taken at workplace periodically. However, the State Govt. may by order in
writing and for reasons to be recorded, exempt the occupier of any factory or class of
factories from establishing Safety Committee. The composition of these committee,
office duration, and their rights and duties may be prescribed by the State Govt.
Ref: http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/32063/64873/E871 ND01.htm#a021
3.2 At Enterprise Level

Safety and health of workmen is an important issue for the industrial workers
and in order to ensure that hazards have been sincerely identified by the employer
and all reasonably practicable measures have been taken by them to control
occupational hazards at workplace can be dealt at enterprise level.
In addition, Institutional OHS framework is also extended through employer's

associations/organizations in India like Confederation of Indian Industries, All India
Manufacturers Association, Madras Management Association, Indian Chemical
Manufacturers Association, Employers Federation of Southern India, Federation of
Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, etc. They also take up the OHS issues
of the workforce on various Governmental and Institutional Forums time to time. The
OHS issue has also been extended through establishment of Labour unions at
National, State and Unit level who take care of OHS issues.
•
In organized sector, some of the industries with large infrastructure also have
their own OHS service in order to protect workplace hazards and also worker's health.
Currently, the occupational health services in the country exist in different models. The
large industrial setups use in-plant model where there is an occupational health center
often manned by general health physician or trained occupational health physician to
provide health care to the employees and their families. The medium size enterprises
usually have the part time doctors for providing general health care; or they have
doctors or hospital on their panel to provide general and specialized health care to
their employees. The real problem exists in unorganized sector, which do not fall
under the purview of legislation and thereby these services do not exist or are scanty
in this sector. Thus, quiet a large number of workers unable to get OHS benefits in the
unorganized sector. Therefore, basic occupational health services (BOHS) will be
useful to provide OHS to these workers .
•
Chapter 4
OHS Technical Standards, Guidelines and

Management Systems
Occupational health and safety management system is utmost necessary to

minimize the risk of occupational injury and illness due to work environment. To
overcome these problems, OSH technical standards are developed to manage or
minimize such problems.
4.1 OHS Management system at enterprise level
The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS)-18000
was established collectively by 13 European certification companies and the British
Standardization Institute (BSI). The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment
Series (OHSAS) 18000 correspond to the structure of International Organization of
Standardization (IS0)14000 and thus can be implemented without conflicts. India has
published Indian Standards (IS) 18001 :2007 on Occupational Health and Safety
Management Systems Requirements with Guidance for use, which is based on
OHSAS18000 and adapted to the Indian needs. IS18001, similar to the other
standards, four phases of the improvement process are: planning, implementation
and operation, measurement and evaluation (checking and corrective action in
OHSAS 18001 ), and management review. There are no authentic statistics available
on the number of companies certified for OHSAS or IS18001 in India. Information
collected from different certification bodies shows that - 3000 organizations have
currently adopted these standards to benchmark their OHS activities in India.
Ref:http://www.cholarisk.com/uploads/An_effective_health_and_safety_management_system_requires_strong
_leadership.pd/
4.2 OHS Technical Standards

The standards needed for systematic industrial and commercial growth,
quality production and competitive efficiency are provided by Indian Standards
•
Institution (ISi) in the country. The government recognized the need for strengthening
the National Standards Body due to rapid changes in socio-economic scenario. Thus,
the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act 1986 came into force. By this change, the
Government visualized for building quality culture, awareness and better participation
ofconsumers in devising and implementation of National Standards in the country.
Ref: http://www.bis.org.in/org/obj.htm
4.2.1 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

The national standards body- BIS is a statutory body established under the
Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. The Bureau is a body responsible for
formulating National Standards. The members of this body belong to the Industry,
Consumer Organizations, Scientific and Research Institutes and Professional
Bodies, Technical Institutions, Central ministries, State Governments and Members
of Parliament.
4.2.2 Standards formulation
Indian Standards are framed owing to the national priorities, programs for
industrial development, technological needs, consumer welfare, health, safety, export
promotion, etc. About 17000 standards have been articulated in different technologies
by the bureau.
4.3 Certification
4.3.1 Product certification
The product certification scheme is principally voluntary in nature and it aims
at providing quality, safety and dependability to the customer. Conformities are
ensured by regular observational visits for unit performance which is scrutinized by
surprise inspections and testing of samples, drawn from both the Industry/factory as
well as from the market.
4.3.2 ECO mark

ECO mark is a certification mark issued by BIS to products conforming the set
of standards. For environment friendly products, the Govt. of India had introduced a
scheme in February 1991 for labeling known as ECO mark for the product which is
ecologically safer.
•
4.3.3 Quality management systems certification {ISO 9000)
Bureau of Indian Standards is a national agency authorized to operate
Quality Systems Certification in the country. BIS has adopted ISO 9000 series of
standards as IS 9000 series (Indian Standards), and line up the procedure for
operation of Quality Systems Certification, centered on international criteria and is
analogous to any other such systems which are in operation around the world.
4.3.4 Environment Management System {EMS) Certification
ISO 14000 series of standards have been developed, with the increasing
concern with respect to environmental friendly industrial activity. After adoption of
these standards as national standards, BIS has launched EMS Certification (IS I ISO:
14001 ).
4.3.5 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points {HACCP) certification
HACCP based Quality System Certification Scheme was launched by BIS
as per IS 15000: 1998 standard requirements (equivalent to Codex ALI NORM 97 I
13A). This is superseded by IS 15000: 2013 requirements for any organizations with
food chain.
4.4 Laboratory Testing, Calibration and Management
The bureau of Indian standards has a number of laboratories which are
located in different parts of the country for conformity testing of certified products and
samples offered by applicants for license which is an indispensable feature of BIS
Certification System. BIS Laboratories are also upgraded or modernized periodically
to take up new challenges.
4.5 Standards Promotion
For a wider adoption of IS, BIS has formulated a plan which emphasizes on
• Development of corresponding level of standardization such as company
standardization and association level standardization - Effective implementation
of standards through sectoral committees for example, food, information
technology, steel, textiles, automotive, power etc.
• State Level Committees on standardization and quality systems in order to ensure
better implementation of Indian standards
• Use of Indian standard in legislation
•
• Better collaboration with public and private sector undertakings
• Bulk public purchases based on standards and standard marked products
• Use of standards in education systems
• Step up media campaign to generate awareness with respect to Indian standards
4.6 International cooperation
BIS as a founder member of International Organization of Standardization
continue to take an active part in international standardization. BIS is also actively
participating in International Electro Technical Commission and also has either
participation status or observer status on all the important technical committees of
International organization of Standardization (IOS).
4. 7 National Institute for training for Standardization
The National Institute ofTraining for Standardization, Naida, India has been set
up in 1995 in order to deliver training in the area of standardization, quality control,
quality management, laboratory management, environmental management system,
etc. to the industrial personnel. A number of participants have also been trained in
several such training programs from various other countries of Asia, Africa, Europe
and Latin America.
4.8 Enforcement
Monitoring on misuse of standard mark, an Enforcement Department is
operating at Head Quarters (HQs), of BIS with designated coordination officers in
Regional Office (RO) and Branch Office (BO). The Enforcement Department
investigates the complaints received on misuse of Standard Mark and takes
appropriate legal action on this matter.
Ref: http://maharashtradirectory. comlindustrialresources/bureau-of-indian-standards.html
The following BIS standards are used in occupational health and safety in the
industries:
"IS-14489: 1998 Code of Practice on Occupational Safety and Health Audit.
IS-18001 :2000 Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems.
IS-15656:2006 Hazard Identification and RiskAnalysis-Code of Practice
IS-15001 :2000 Standard on Occupational Health and Safety Management System
Specification with guidance for use"
Ref: http://www.hrdp-idrm.in/e 7388/e 77551
•
Chapter 5
Statistics of Factories at a Glance and Human

Resources in Area of OHS
There are about 3,61,994 registered factories in India as per 2014 estimation.
The total year-wise (2008-2014) registered factories, working factories and total
working population, including men and women, total number of safety, welfare and
medical officers in the country is shown in table 5.1.
The number of women workers increases steadily during these years. If the
total numbers of working factories as well as the number of workers engaged are
considered, the number of safety, welfare and medical officers are inadequate. But
overall elevations in most of the parameters were observed during these years.
TableS.1: Overview on Statistics of Factories at a Glance (Year-wise)
4iM!lij1&mEmEDIEmlmmmml
Registered
Factories *3,09,618 3,24,761 3,37,151 3,25,209 3,53,684 3,40,226 3,61,994
Working
*2,62,827 2, 2,86,653 2,71,085 3,09,626 2,92,310 3,07,459
Factories
Employment
Total 1,21,41,881 13,100,1291,27,19,287116,34,070 149,10,635 140,42,410 200,34,859
Men 1,05,45,060 11,340,366 109,52,42498,26,210 127,60,240 119,23,967177,66,601
women 15,96,821 1,759,763 17,66,863 18,07,860 21,50,395 21,18,443 22,68,258
Safety
2,164 2,642 3,089 3,587 2,898 2,801 3,516
Officers
Welfare 3,705
2,885 3,096 3,091 3,228 3,297 3,255
Officers
Factory
Med cal 7,918 6,809 6,693 7,464 9,278 10,579 11,752
Officers
Contd ....
•
Safety
14,120 14,681 14,168 13,458 13,606 17,476 22,792
Policy
Safety
12,802 12,995 13,747 12,292 11,850 13,047 18,335
Committee
Major
Accident
1,724 1,920 1,958 1,599 1,804 1,875 1,969
Hazard
Factories
Onsite
1,822 1,920 1,918 1,537 1,772 1,791 1,936
Emergency
Canteens 6,030 6,351 7,308 8,083 6,683 6,531 8,046
Creches 5,224 5,326 5,273 5,334 5,656 5,744 6,238

Total
33,004 33,093 31,505 29,837 29,824 28,380 26,614
Injuries
Fatal
1,493 1,509 1,459 1,433 1,383 1,417 1,211
Injuries
*Includes estimated figures for non-reporting States: Standard reference note DGFASLla:8,
b:9, c:10, d:11, e:12, f:13, g:14
Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std _ref09. pdf;
http:l/www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref_2010.pdf;
http:l/www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std _ref11. pdf; http:l/www.dgfasli.nic.in/std _ref/std _ref12. pdf; ht
tp:l/www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref13.pdf; http:l/www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref14.pdf;
http:l/dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref15.pdf
The data revealed that number of safety officers, welfare officers steadily
increases from 2008 to 2014. A marginal variation of total manpower is noted during
these years whereas there was sharp elevation in total manpower in 2014 with respect
to previous years. However, the elevation in safety and, welfare officers is marginal in
view of the requirement with respect to workers engaged. Total injury data also
showed a declining trend during these years.
According to 2001 census, the employment status of the unorganized sector in
different economic sectors is depicted in table 5.2 A. The data indicated that maximum
number of workers employed in other worker's category (mining & quarrying,
manufacturing, servicing & repairs, construction, trade & commerce) followed by
cultivators and agricultural laborers. These workers are under covered for OHS .
•
Table 5.2 A: Employment (in millions) in different economic sectors of activities in
urban and rural India. 1Saiyed HN & Tiwari RR (2004). Occupational Health Research in
India, Ind Hlth, 42: 141.
·- --
Agricultural
Labourers
403 128 107 16 151
275 86 57 8 123
Females 127 41 50 8 28
I
Individuals 311 125 103 12 71
Males 199 84 55 6 55
Females 111 41 48 6 16
I
Individuals 92 3 4 5 80
Males 76 2 3 3 69
Females 16 1 2 2 11
*Other Workers: Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing, Servicing & Repairs, Construction, Trade &
Commerce
Further, data with respect to total workforce indicated that there was a
substantial increase in the work force from 2001 to 2011 (table 5.2 B). During these
years, other workers and agricultural laborers were elevated from 37.6% to 41.6%
and 26.5% to 30.0% respectively whereas a decline in cultivators from 31. 7% to
24.6% and decline from 4.2% to 3.8% in household industrial workers.
Table 5.2 B: Employment (in millions) in different economic sectors of activities

(percentage) in India
Cultivator Agricultural Household Other

(%) Labourers Industry workers
(%) (%) (%)
2001 2011 2001 2011 2001 2011 2001 2011 2001 2011
Individual 403 481.7 31.7 24.6 26.5 30.0 4.2 3.8 37.6 41.6
Male 275 331 31.1 24.9 20.8 24.9 3.2 2.9 44.9 47.2
Female 32.9 24.0 38.9 41.1
127 149 6.5 5.7 21.7 29.2
Ref:http://censusmp.nic.inlcensusmp!Data/PCA_DATA/006%20-%20Chapter"/a20-%204%20-
%20WPR%20.pdf
•
The table 5.3 depicts the average daily employment in the mines sectors from
year 1991 to 2014. Maximum number of workers was employed in coal mines in
comparison to other mines. It is expected that the presently direct average of daily
employment in the mineral industry is about 1 million. Again with the thriving economic
activity and remarkable growth in mineral industry, mainly in coal sector in order to
cater the country's energy demand, there is great potential for employment
generation in this sector. In addition, with notable growth in the infrastructure sector,
the demand for iron, manganese, limestone, etc. will also be increases exponentially.
Thus, mining industry will be the leading employment generator in the country in
future also.
Table 5.3: Average daily employment in mines (in ('000))
••••••••••••
llila 554.1
l m 552.o
lllm 546.3
35.5
35.7
33.5
12.8
12.7
12.2
9.3
9.4
7.9
40.0
42.0
39.8
43.5
43.0
41.6
17.9
18.4
18.5
2.2
1.6
1.5
11.2
8.9
9.2
63.3
67.2
68.9
200.2
203.2
199.6
1Ilm 523.7 34.3 11.2 7.4 38.5 39.8 18.2 1.7 9.4 65.2 191.4
1 & 513.3 34.0 10.5 7.1 39.6 39.8 18.1 1.8 7.5 64.4 188.8
Elm 506.4 33.4 9.9 6.9 39.2 35.7 18.1 1.2 5.2 60.1 176.3
l m 5o3.4 28.6 10.3 6.8 38.6 33.0 16.0 1.2 4.9 61.6 172.4
ll!ElJ491.3 29.5 8.7 6.1 37.3 31.2 15.9 1.1 5.3 59.3 164.9
lllm 475.8 25.5 7.7 5.9 36.2 29.8 16.5 1.0 5.2 55.3 157.6
Elm 458.4 23.4 6.9 5.3 35.3 31.1 16.1 1.0 6.4 54.8 156.9
EiiID 438.2 24.4 3.9 3.6 32.3 24.2 17.8 1.0 6.3 47.5 136.6
EiiID 422.6 22.3 3.3 3.3 33.6 25.1 13.7 1.0 7.8 49.2 137.0
E!m 416.7 18.6 2.5 2.7 35.8 24.2 13.2 0.6 8.0 50.0 137.0
E!I!D 405.2 19.1 2.0 2.7 38.6 24.8 14.6 0.6 7.9 52.2 143.5
Elm 399.0 19.2 1.9 3.1 37.4 25.8 14.7 0.6 7.0 50.5 141.0
ml?ll 385.7 13.9 2.0 3.1 41.6 25.6 13.2 0.6 6.5 50.8 143.4
E!I!il379.5 19.2 2.5 3.1 41.8 27.7 13.4 0.6 8.8 53.8 151.7
Elm 369.4 23.6 2.6 3.1 44.8 28.1 13.5 0.7 7.0 56.3 156.1
El?m 373.9 24.9 3.1 2.0 47.2 28.5 13.4 0.6 7.2 58.1 160.1
m!:mJ 310.1 29.4 3.0 3.0 47.3 28.2 13.9 0.7 7.2 59.5 162.8
Contd ....
•
111111111111
• 366.0 27.4 3.3 3.1 52.6 28.6 15.8 0.7 7.1 61.6 172.8
• 359.0 22.8 3.7 3.1 55.2 30.1 16.4 0.6 7.2 41.0 180.1
• 357.9 25.9 3.7 3.4 52.9 33.7 17.4 0.5 7.4 40.4 185.3
• 355.9 24.8 3.7 3.7 50.5 33.5 18.8 0.6 7.5 39.9 183.0
Ref: http:f/dgms.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Standard_Note_ Ol-Ol-2017636219773233044487.pdf
Safety committee functioning in factories of various states indicated that the

factories requirement of safety committee and having safety committee indicated that
about 91.3% factories have safety committee as per the available data of 2014.This
indicates that -9. 7% factories still required safety committee. The data on state wise
factories requiring and having onsite emergency plan suggests that more than
98.32% of factories are having plan and less than 2 % factories do not have onsite
emergency plan. Further, some of the State Govt. modifies the model rule prepared by
DGFASLI framed under the factories amendment act, 1987 in order to suit local
needs for such committee (Standard Note'2015, DG FAS FL I).
Ref: http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref15.pdf
Human Resource in Area of OHS
The overall human resources at national levels in the area of OHS are
inadequate and needs to be strengthened in order to achieve the goal of OHS in the
country. Human resources with respect to welfare officers, safety officers, medical
officers, factory inspectors etc. is depicted in table 5.4 (A, B). A total of 2745 full time
Medical Officers (MO), 9007 Retainer ship or part time Medical officers are
available in the factories in India. Further, 2800 factories are having ambulance van
and 3351 factories are having ambulance rooms in the factory as per the
provisional data of 2014.
Ref: http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref15.pdf
•
Human
Resources
Full time medical 2393 2586 2672 2286 2253 2368 2745
Officer
Retainership 5525 4223 4021 5178 7025 8211 9007
medical Officer
Factories having 2243 2273 2481 2220 2277 2472 2800
ambulance van
Factories having 2277 2481 2586 2701 2829 2778 3351
ambulance room
*Includes estimated figures for non-reporting States; Standard reference note DGFASLf:B, •:9, "10,
•:11, "'12, ':13, "'14
Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_rejD9.p4f;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in!std_reflstd_ref_2010.pdf;http:llwww.dgfasli.nic.inlstd_ref/std_refll.pdfhttp://www.d
gfasli.nic.inlstd_reflstd_ref12.pdf;http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_refl 3.p4f;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ reflstd_ ref14.pdf; http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref15.pdf
The data revealed that the human resources in area of OHS increase steadily
during recent years. A total of 743 factory inspectors were working in the country in
different states and union territories as per 2014 estimation. The state wise details of
factory inspectors are also available which indicate that the maximum numbers of
inspectors are working in the state of Tamil Nadu followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra
and Andhra Pradesh. In addition, 19 medical inspectors, 23 chemical inspectors and
08 others inspectors were also working as per 2014 data. A total of 4047 Factories
needed Welfare officers and a total of 3705 Welfare officers are appointed in these
factories as per the provisional data of 2014.
Table 5.4 (B): Human resources with respect to OHS in India
Human Resources
fl"•1:1 fl'1'fi1 f1• 11•1fl'111fmifiimtl' 1F8
Welfare Officer 2885 3096 3091 3228 3297 3255 3705
Safety Officer 2164 2642 3089 3587 2898 2801 3516
Certifying Surgeon 14 14 18 21 24 24 24
Inspector of Factories 660 604 677 743 753 716 743
Medical Inspectors 26 14 18 19 19 25 19
Chemical Inspectors 18 08 16 19 19 25 23
Hygiene Inspectors 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
Others 14 12 11 9 37 14 8
*Includes estimated figures for non-reporting States; Standard reference note DGFASL/a:B, b:9, c:10,
d:11, e:12, f:13, g:14
•
Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ ref09.pdf;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_reflstd_ref_2010.pdf;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_reflstd_ref11.pdf;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ reflstd_ ref12.pdf;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ reflstd_ ref13.pdf;
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_reflstd_ref14.pdf;
http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_reflstd_ref15.pdf
In view of the working factories, total workers employed and vast difference
between requirement and available of OHS personnel in the country, there is a
necessity for human resource development with regards to OHS and need more
educational courses to train the manpower on occupational and environmental health
in order to improve OHS in the country.
•
Chapter 6
OHS System Implementation: Means and Tools
6.1 Occupational Health and Services- Indian Scenario
India is a fast developing country; about -482 million people belong to the
working population (Census, 2011 ). There are about 3,61,994 registered industrial
1
factories and about 3,07,459 are working factories • The current burden of subjects
under occupational diseases category is estimated to be-18 million cases in lndia2 •
1
Ref- http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref15.pdf
2
http:/lwww.amrc.org.hklsites/defaultlfiles/Occupational%20status%20report%20-%20/ndia.pdf
6.1.1 Coverage of OHS
Occupational health is not included with primary health care system in India.
OHS is under the mandate of MoLE and implementation is carried out through DISH
at state levels which function through medical inspectors of factories and inspecting
engineers. The data suggest that numbers of these personnel are inadequate for a
country with such a huge worker's population. A number of enforcement agencies
monitor the organized sector whereas the unorganized sector is generally ignored.
There is a need for capacity building of enforcement agencies by providing additional
resources as well as manpower. At present, some of the public sector enterprises and
large industries make adequate medical services available to the workers but they
generally concentrated on remedial measures overlooking occupational health. The
occupational health physician, wherever employed, also takes up generally curative
and liaison work giving inadequate attention to occupational health. The physician
generally might not be adequately trained on occupational health, this lead to
underreporting the occupational diseases. However, occupational hygiene activities
are generally carried out under the safety but not covered under OHS
•
6.1.2 Occupational Health Service System
The occupational healthcare system operates at various levels in the country.
DGFASLI (MoLE) provides backing to the state enforcing agencies by providing,
education and training on occupational health and safety. It helps in drafting statutory
guidelines, regulations and carried out intervention studies to evaluate the prevalence
of occupational diseases and disorders and these data are used to understand and
calculate the magnitude of the occupational health problems, so that the identified
occupational diseases can be included in the National Planning and Programming to
control the diseases.
The organizations such as National Institutes of Occupational Health (N IOH),

[ICMR], Ahmadabad and its two regional occupational health centers at Bangalore
and Kolkata, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (llTR) [CSIR], Lucknow, Center
of Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), Delhi, All India Institute of
Hygiene and Public health (AllH&PH), Kolkata carry out epidemiological &
occupational health studies in organized and unorganized sectors of the country.
Hon'ble Supreme Court of India recognized NIOH, Ahmadabad as the authority to
make final diagnosis of asbestosis in the country.
The medical inspector work under DISH which supervises the state level
occupational health services for workers. Around 8 million employees are covered by
the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to provide curative health care to
them. Five zonal Occupational Diseases Centers were established by ESIC in the
country with an aim to provide services for early identification and diagnosis of
occupational diseases for ESI beneficiaries. The ESIC was set up in the year 1952
and has grown to a huge number of workers' and employers' contribution based health
insurance corporation along with huge cash reserve. Further, Occupational Health
Centers (OH Cs) are to be established at various hazardous process factories or units
with an occupational health physician (full-time). This is obligatory when the
employees number more than 200 in such factories. Worker's healthcare is to be
provided either by the Management or through the Employees' State Insurance
•
Scheme {ES IS) at the factory/unit level".
Ref:http://www.amrc.org.hk/sites/default/files/Occupational%20status%20report%20-%201ndia.pdf
6.1.3 Occupational Hygiene in India

There are inadequate occupational hygienist's in the country, whereas the
Factories Act 1948 needed environmental monitoring of a huge number of detrimental
substances in the work environment. Thus, there is a need of adequate qualified
occupational hygienists in the country.
Ref: http://www.amrc.org.hk/system/files/Occupational%20status%20report%20-%201ndia.pdf
6.1.4 Basic Occupational Health Services (BOHS)

The principle of Basic Occupational Health Services {BOHS) is based upon
primary healthcare system to be used in the Occupational health sector also. The
BOHS provides occupational health facilities to all workers irrespective of mode of
employment, workplace size, and geographic location in the world which is as per the
principle of universal services provision. These BOHS services are absolutely
needed for those countries and sectors which do not have OHS services or
inadequately served. This emphasizes the importance of a national strategy and plan
of action to incorporate occupational health in all the policies.
Many organizations such as WHO, ILO, and International Commission on

Occupational Health {ICOH)jointlydeveloped the idea of BOHS. It has its roots in the
'Alma Ata' declaration (1978) by WHO. In 2003, WHO/ILO Joint Committee of
Occupational Health had a discussion on BOHS principles for the first time. Now,
BOHS has become an integral component of global occupational health services
development plans of the WHO and ILO. The WHO along with its collaborating
centers in occupational health, the ILO, ICOH and other international organizations
are working together for the execution of BOHS in different parts of the world which
closely is also important for the country like India where a maximum number of
workforce are working in unorganized sector.
The BOHS program is intend to cover all workers with strong focus on
prevention of diseases. Small and medium sized Enterprises {SM Es) as well as self-
•
employed persons are to be provided BOHS. In BOHS, strong primary health care
approach to be adopted which needs better synchronization between health and labor
ministries. The expert specialized institutions on occupational health have to play a
significant role in BOHS by developing low-cost solutions for worker's health as well
as to curb workplace environmental pollution.
Aims of BOHS are:
a. "Protection ofhealth at workplace
b.Promotionofhealth, well-being, workability
c. Prevention of occupational diseases and accidents"
Activities under BOHS are health surveillance, emergency preparedness, first
aid services and also includes surveillance of work environment, risk assessment and
control and preventive measures to control industrial pollutants in the workplace. In
addition, Health education and promotion are also important part of BOHS.
Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmclarticles/PMC2822160/
6.2 Education, Training and Awareness

In India, there are around 1125 and 100 qualified occupational health
professionals and qualified hygienists respectively. Further, occupational health
training is also carried out only in few medical colleges for graduate, postgraduate
diploma and degree courses.
Table 6.1: OHS related courses offered in India
Ph.D.
IC MR-National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmadabad
CSIR-lndian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow
PG /UG Diploma
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Vadodara
Armed Force Medical College, Pune
National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering (NITIE}, Mumbai
Short- Term Certificate Course (3 Months)
Central Labour Institute, Mumbai and its regional centres
Contd ....
•
Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute, National Institute of Occupational Health and
Chief Inspector of Factories, Ahmadabad
Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
State factory inspectorate, Goa
Model Centre on Occupational Health, BHEL, Trichi
Lokmanya Medical Research Center, Pune
Centre for Occupational & Environmental Health, Maulana Azad Medical
College, New Delhi
Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai

ICMR-NIOH-Regional Occupational Health Center, Bangalore
Short Term Orientation Programs
Central Labour Institute, Mumbai
ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmadabad
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
CSI R-lndian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~='
PG Degree Course
Masters in Industrial Hygiene Safety (MIHS} (2 Years}
Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel University, Vallabh Vidhya Nagar, Anand
Distant Learning PG Diploma Courses in Industrial Health and Hygiene
Sri Ramchandra Medical Centre and Research Institute, Chennai
Graduate Course in Occupational Therapy
Government College & Hospital, Nagpur
National Institute of Orthopedically Handicapped, Kolkata
In India, the following Occupational Health related organizations are

conducting training, educational courses and occupational health research and
hygiene:
• ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmadabad and its two

Regional Occupational Health Centers at Kolkata and Bangalore
• CSIR-lndian Toxicology Research Institute (/TRI), Lucknow
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AllH&PH), Kolkata
•
• Central Labour Institute (CL/), Mumbai and its Regional Labour Institutes at
Calcutta, Madras, Faridabad and Kanpur
• CSIR-Central Mining Research Station, Dhanbad
• National Institute of Miner's Health, Nagpur
• Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), Delhi
-----~
• ICMR-National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIERH), Bhopal

• National Safety Council, Mumbai
• Sri Ramchandra Medical Centre and Research Institute, Chennai
"Central Labour Institute (CL/), Mumbai, is working under the Ministry of

Labour and Employment and it has four Regional labour institutes located at Chennai,
Kolkata, Faridabad and Kanpur. These Institutes carry out training and research
related to Industrial safety and health. These institutes also test and develop personal
protective devices. CL/ is the institute who is conducting statutory training I
certification course for doctors and others. The certificate course is compulsory for all
industrial medical officers employed in hazardous industries". It also gave advices to
the factories on various issues such as worker's safety, health and working
environment.
Ref: http://www.amrc.org.hk/system/files/Occupationalo/o20status%20report%20-%201ndia.pdf
"ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health(NIOH),Ahmedabad, is

the leading institutes of the ICMR established in 1966 at Ahmadabad, to cater regional
need for occupational health of the Southern and Eastern regions, the Institute also
established two Regional Occupational Health Centres (ROHC) at Bangalore (1977)
and Kolkata (1980). NIOH is the working with objectives: To promote intensive
research to evaluate environmental stresses/factors at the workplace; To promote the
highest quality of occupational health through fundamental and applied research; To
develop control technologies and health programs through basic and fundamental
research and to generate human resources".
The Institute functions as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational

Health. The Institute has represented in many important functions of the Govt. of/ndia,
•
in addition to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare program, institute also
collaborates with MoLE, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry ofAgriculture,
Ministry of Power, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers etc. to generate data, provide
guidance and recommendations on occupational and environmental health issues.
Ref: http://www.nioh.org/
"CSIR-lndian Institute of Toxicology Research (I/TR), Lucknow, India

is involved in the field of Toxicology and its main campus situated in Lucknow city. It
is one of the constituent laboratories of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
(CSIRJ, which was established in 1965 with the motto of "Safety to Environment &
Health and SeNice to Industry". The Institute is committed towards research in
Fundamental and Applied Toxicology. Major key areas of I/TR include
environmental toxicology, safety assessment of food & additives, ground and
surface water pollution, toxicity evaluation of substances for human use, microbial
contaminations, hazard identification, bioremediation, and toxicogenomics etc".
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lndian_lnstitute_ af_ Toxicology_Research
"CSIR- Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR)

Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India is a constituent laboratory of CSIR, aimed to provide
R&D inputs for the entire coal-energy chain from mining to consumption through
integration of the core competencies of the two premier Coal institution (CFRI &
CMRI) of the country".
Ref: http:llwww.cimfr.nic.in/
"National Safety Council (NSC), Mumbai was established in 1966 by the

MoLE, to evolve, develop and sustain a voluntary movement on Safety, Health and
Environment (SHE). The NSC carries out several activities such as organizing
specialized training courses for the stakeholders, conferences, seminars &
workshops, consultancy studies such as safety audits, hazard evaluation & risk
assessment; designing and developing Health Safety & Environment (HSE)
promotional materials & related publications; facilitating organizations for celebrating
various campaigns e.g. Fire SeNice Week, Safety Day, World Environment Day" etc.
Ref:http://www.nsc.org.in/index.php ?option=com_ content&view=article&id=51&/temid=81
•
ICMR established a National Institute i.e., "National Institute for Research
in Environmental Health (NIREH), Bhopal, in 2011. After the Methyl lsocynate gas
disaster in 1984, a coordination unit was set up in 1985 and initiated research
programs. This Unit was upgraded to Bhopal Gas Disaster Research Centre in 1986.
Later, Bhopal Gas Disaster Research Centre (ICMR) was rendered to the Govt. of
Madhya Pradesh in 1995 to continue research programs under Centre for
Rehabilitation Studies (CRS), Bhopal. As per the Govt. of India direction, ICMR set up
"NIREH" to focus on the issues of environmental health research to meet challenges
in environmental disasters in the country".
Ref: http://www.nireh.org/aboutus.asp
"Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), Maulana

Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi is offering a certificate course in Industrial
health (Associate Fellow of Industrial health). The course is conducted by faculty of
MAMC and associated hospitals and also has support of foreign institutions such
as Collegium Ramazzini, Drexel University School of Public Health (Philadelphia)
Hebrew University (Israel) and University Hospital (Birmingham). The Centre has
an agenda for creating a safe workplace and healthful working environment
through research and education".
Ref: http:/lwww.coeh.de/higovt.nic.inlnv_home%5C..lafih.asp
"All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health (AllH&PH), Kolkata - The
aim of this institute is to deliver integrated occupational health care program by
catering following OHS activities:
• Teaching and guiding the medical personnel for post-graduate course - Diploma in
Industrial Health (DIH)
• Teaching and training of the students of DPH, MD(SPM), DMCW, MV(PH), ME
(PH), DHE, OHS, DPHN, etc. inthefieldofOHS
• Short term certificate course in OHS for the industries
• Studies and consultancy services in the field of OHS
• Monitor work environments and conduct medical examinations"
Ref: http://dgfasli.nic.in/org_profile/masterdetai/2.asp ?orgid=1002
•
"Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai - The University established
Department of Environmental Health Engineering in 1998. The department originally
set up to provide occupational safety and industrial hygiene monitoring seNices to the
leather/tanning industry in Tamil Nadu, then expanded to include a variety of R&D and
training activities, that cover a broad spectrum of environmental health. Using a
combination of basic science and applied population research, the department has
also been involved in several local, national and global efforts in thrust areas of
environmental and occupational health".
Ref: http://www.sriramachandra.edu.in!university!departments.php?cid=6&did=41
"Institute of Science and Technology Applied Research (ISTAR) Sardar

Patel University, Anand, Gujarat- The Master of Industrial Hygiene and Safety
(MIHS) is India's first full time Post Graduate Program offered in collaboration with
University of Cincinnati. The area of safety was included in the course in year 2005 in
order to get enhance knowledge about safe working environment to be generated in
workplace".
Ref: http://istar.edu.in!MIHS!index.htm
"Indian Institute of Public Health- Gandhinagar(llPH-G) started in

2008. The first academic program i.e. Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health
Management was launched in 2008. The Institute has been conducting short-term
training programs and workshops in various fields related to public health.
Recently, IfPH also initiated a certificate course on Associate Fellow of Industrial
Health (AF/HJ with an active support of NIOH'.
Ref: https://www.phfi.org/iiph-gandhinagar!academic-programs
"Mahatma Gandhi Labor Institute (MGLI}, Ahmedabad is established

by the Gujarat Government to take issues related with Labour in respect of
education, training and research. The Institute has facilities to take up training and
educational programs. The Institute is running AFIH courses successfully in
collaboration with NIOH, Ahmedabad. Mission of the institute is empowering
working classes in India in general and Gujarat in particular, to secure justice and
access to opportunities to improve their standard of living and working
environment'.
•
Ref: http:l/mgli.gujarat.gov.inlimages/pdf/brochure-health-for-doctors.pdf
Certain Universities/Technical Institutions

"A number of Institute like National Institute of Technology, Trichirappalli, few
other Engineering Colleges, Industry Associations and NGO etc. all over the country
also runs professional industrial safety courses such as M.E. (Industrial Safety),
Diploma in Industrial Safety, Master of Industrial Hygiene and Safety, Industrial Safety
Certification Course, etc. for the benefit of the industries and as well as to fulfill OSH
requirement also forms a part of the Governmental/Institutional OSH Framework of
the country. The OSH components are also included in the syllabus of some of the
Engineering Degree/Diploma Course which indicates the significance given to the
improvement of occupational safety and health in the count,.Y'.
Ref: https://toxicswatch.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/occupationaf-safety-and-health-september-2011.pdf
Flow chart of Organizations Involved in Occupational Health and Safety
[ Worker's Union Ministry of Ministry of

Industries Environment Industry
Ministry of Health & Corresponding

Family Welfare Department of Respective Ministry of Labour
State Govt.
Ministry of Ministry of International

NGO's Law
Agriculture Organizations
Ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862442/figure/F0001/
•
6.2.1 Organization Working on Occupational Health
Both governmental and non-governmental organizations are working at
various levels for the benefits of the workers and environment.
Governmental/ International organization Non-governmental organization
Data Portal of India Academic Associations
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare • Indian Association of Occupational

Health (IAOH)
Department of Health Research
• Central Industrial Hygiene
Indian Council of Medical Research
Association(CI HA)
Department of Biotechnology Business associates
Ministry of Labour • Confederation of Indian industries

(Cll)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
• Federation of Indian Chamber of
Pollution Control Boards Commerce and Industries (FICCI)
Ministry of Science & Technology • Indian Chemical Manufacturers

and Associations (ICMA)
Directorate General, Factory Advice Service &
NG O's
Labour Institutes (DGFASLI)
• Centre for Science and
Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) Environment (CSE), Delhi
National Institute of Miners Health (NIMH) • Self Employed Women Association

(SEWA), Ahmadabad.
CSIR-lndian Institute Toxicology Research (llTR)
• People Training Research Centre
ICMR-National Institute of Occupational (PTRC), Vadodara
Health(NIOH) and it's both Regional • Mine Labour Protection campaign
Occupational Health Centre (ROHC-E), (MLPC), Jodhpur
(ROHC-S)
National Environmental Engineering

Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur
Research Design and Standards Labor Union at Center, State

Organization (RDSO), Lucknow, Ministry of and Organizations Level
Railways, Govt. of India
International Labour Organization

World Health Organization
Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862442/
•
"Indian Association of Occupational Health (IAOH} -The Indian
Association of Occupational Health is India's leading academic association in
Occupational and Environmental health. IAOH is dedicated to enable occupational
health professionals to make India's workplaces healthy, safe and green-free from
the hostile effects of hazards, by evolving effective solutions".
Ref: http://www.iaohindia.com/about-iaoh
6.3 Healthcare Institutions and role of Non-Governmental Organizations

(NG O's}
A few expert agencies such as NIOH and its arm ROHCs, CLI and its 4
regional institute, llTR, AllH&PH, NIMH, COEH etc. are the major institutes working
to find out prevalence, prevention and control of work-related health hazards. In
addition, a number of NGOs are also entered in improving the health status of the
workers. These NGOs are also playing a significant role along with the governmental
organization, to improve the distress situation of OHS in the country. The IAOH is
India's leading academic association in Occupational and environmental health and a
number of NGOs have also contributed to the consolidation of occupational health
movement in the country.
Ref: http:llwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmclarticles/PMC2862442/
A number of organizations and academic association such as CSE, MLPC,

PTRC, etc. and business associated such as FICCI, Cll, UBM, India etc. are also
working in area of occupational and environmental health issues in the country. They
carry out awareness campaign; highlight pollutants in workplace and worker's health
issues at various platforms in order to sensitize the stakeholders. They also conduct
awareness programs and training for the workers and sensitize the community as a
whole about OS H and raise the worker's issues at various platforms .
•
Chapter 7
Occupational Accidents and Diseases
The Work Participation Rate (WPR) of a country is the percentage of total
workers to total population which is -39.3 % in India as per the 2001 Census which is
slightly more than -37.5 % in 1991 Census. While the WPR for males is marginally
increased from 51.6to 51.9 % during 1991 to2001, it was improved considerably from
22.7 to 25.7% in women during the period. This elevation is mainly due to increase in
proportion of marginal workers which registered significant increase from 3.4 to 8. 7%
during these years. Further, in India, the overall WPR is -25.51 % for females and
-53.26% for males in 2011. The considerable elevation in female workers during
these years also leads to additional concerns, such as deleterious effects on
reproductive health, including pregnancy and its outcome, due to toxic chemical
exposure in the workplace and musculoskeletal disorders due to unsuitable working
postures. Several issues arise from the fact that neither the equipment nor the tasks
are reformed to their physique. Furthermore, female workers also suffer from stress
related disarrays, due to job discrimination (lower salaries and less decision-making
powers) and a double burden of work (at workplace and home) as well as threats of
sexual harassment etc.
Ref:http://censusindia.gov.in/Data_Products/Library/Post_Enumeration_link/eci6_page3.html
http:llmospi.nic.inlsites/defauftlfiles/reports_and_publicationlstatistical_publicationlsocial_statistics/WM
16Chapter4.pdf
CSO (2013). Women and Men in India 2013, 15" Issue. Central Statistics Office, National Statistical
Organization, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt of India, New Delhi.
•
As on date, nearly two thirds of India's population belongs to the young age
group, a large segment is either just entering the workforce or working for one or two
years. There are around -482 million active workforces with majority of the rural
population and women being a significant contributor (Census, 2011). In the recent
years the population folds as well as the workforce has been exponentially cascaded
up.
The workforce distribution as per economic sector is different with respect to
industrialized countries. The organized sector includes personnel employed by the
government, state-owned and also private sector enterprises. The organized sector
accounts for approximately -6% of the total workforce and -94% workforce are
employed in the unorganized sector (MoLE, 2012)2. Distribution of workforce,
according to Census in 2001and2011 is depicted in Figure 7.1. The cultivators were
declined in 2011 with respect to 2001 whereas agricultural laborers were elevated in
2011 as compared to 2001.
45
40 • 2011 • 2001
35
....Q)
....0 30
~
::t 25
---
<ti
0 20
0
0~
15
10
5
0
Cultivators Agriculture labours Household industry Other workers
workers
Category of workers
Figure 7.1: Distribution of workforce, according to 2001 & 2011
•
The high-risk, fast-paced industrial expansion reflected unique health and
safety challenges for occupational health and safety, including exposure to
psychological and physical demands resulting increasing incidence of various injuries
and health morbidities. The occupational health is important crucial factor for the
economic growth of the country which can be sustained by improving the public health
as well as health and well-being of the industrial workers.
7 .1 Occupational injuries, accidents and diseases

The statistics of the country with regards to incidence/prevalence pattern of
occupational injuries and disease is not accessible in simple presentation. In India, the
annual incidence of occupational disease was reported between 9,24, 700 and
19,02,300 resulted in 1,21,000 deaths (Leigh et al., 1999)3.
7.1.1 lnjuriesandAccidents
Occupational injuries are a major public health problem among the workers.
Severe consequences also do occur as after-effect such as social and economic loss.
In India, every year almost one thousand workers die and one-fourth of a million
workers are injured in industries in organized sectors only. Thousands of others are
crippled due to occupational injuries in unorganized sectors. Number of insured
persons in the pay roll of permanent disablement benefit reached up to 113,500 with
addition of about 15,000 fresh cases of disablement due to injury during a single year
in India (Saha et al., 2006)4. The frequency rates offatal occupational accidents show
a marked upward trend in those sectors of economic activity which have undergone a
rapid growth in the country.
The MoLE, Standard Reference Note states 1141 fatal injuries and 25173 non-
fatal injuries in factories in 2014 (DGFASLI, Standard note, 2014)5". However, ILO
estimated work related fatal and non-fatal accidents were 47,000 and 44.1 million
respectively based on the extrapolation of 179 fatal accidents reported for the year
2003 {ILO, 2008)5b
2
MoLE (2012). Report of the Working group on Social Security for Twelfth Five Year Plan 2012-17, Ministry
of Labour and Employment, Govt of India.
3
Leigh Jet al. (1999). Global burden of diseases and injury due to occupational factors, Epidemiology
10: 626-31
•
0.1
• Industry 0.3
• Mine
• Transportation
• Other
• Construction 85.8
Figure 7.2: Number of fatal accidents based on sector (2012)
The number of fatal accidents based upon sector-wise that occurred during
year 2012 is shown in figure 7.2. The data indicated that maximum number of fatal
accidents occurred in transportation sector followed by other sectors and construction
workers. The total number of fatal and non-fatal injuries in India during 2008-2014 is
depicted in figure 7.3. The data reveals that both fatal and non-fatal injuries decline
during these years, i.e. 2008 to 2014. The decline was more evident in non-fatal
injuries.
35000
30000
25000
Ill 20000
GI
·c
:I
:s- 15000
10000
5000
0 •
2008
• • • • • •
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014(p)
Years
Figure 7.3: Fatal and non-fatal injuries in factories
Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_re/14.pdf
•saha A et al. (2006). Occupational Injury Proneness in Indian Women: A survey in fish processing
industries. J Occup Med Toxicol; 1:23.
..DGFASLI, Standard note 2014 http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref14.pdf
••1LO (2008). Beyond death and injuries: The IL O's role in promoting safe and healthyjobs.
•
The trend in death rate in both coal and non-coal mines from 1901-2016
decade-wise is shown in figure 7.4. The data reveals a considerably declining trend in
death rates was observed during these years in both coal and non-coal mines.
1.4
1.2
--+-- Coal --- Non-Coal
s
.c
"t;j
0.8
0.6
GI
c
0.4
0.2
0 0 0
'}!
0
<? ..,.0 0
~
0
"i'
0
";-
0
"i'
0
'l'
0
9
0 co
c;' a; C\i M ::;: ;:; 10 r:: a; a; c;' '
en en en en en en en en en 0
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ N
Decade
Figure 7.4: Trends in death rate/ 1000 persons employed in mines
Ref:http://dgms.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Standard_Note_Ol-Ol-2017636219773233044487.pdf
Further, trend in death rates per 1000 persons employed in the coal, metal,
oil and mineral mines during 2003to 2016 is also shown in figure 7.5. The death rates
were more or less stable with minor fluctuation in these mines (coal, oil, metals and all
mineral) during the years i.e. 2003 to 2016 (about 0.1-0.5 per 1000 persons in
different mines).
0.6
- Coal ......,_ Metal "*- Oil - + All Mineral
fl 0.5
0
I!!
CD
IL 0.4
Cl '1:1
g ~
:: .2
CD a, 0.3
E
IL
~w
0.2
1
c 0.1
2003 2004 20052006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
YEAR
Figure 7.5: Trend in death rates per 1000 persons employed in mines
Ref:http://dgms.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Standard_Note_ Ol-01-2017636219773233044487.pdf
•
The data analyzed with respect to trend in the incidence of fatal accidents
during the year 2002-2016 in coal, metals and oil mines is depicted in Figure 7.6.
Maximum fatal accidents occur in coal mines as compared to metal and oil. The data
on incidence of fatal accidents in metals mine showed more or less declining trend
during these years.
2016
-
-
-....
2015
2014
- ....
- 11111
2013
-
•
2012
2011
- .
2010
-
-
-.
m2009
-.
• OIL
>-- -
2008 • METAL
-
2007
2006
-
-I
- • COAL
2005
-
2004 •
-I
2003
-
2002 •
I I I I I I
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Fatal Accidents
Figure 7.6: Trend in incidence of fatal accidents in mines
Ref:http://dgms.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Standard_Note_Ol-Ol- 2017636219773233044487.pdf
•
Frequency of different accidents which occurred in construction industry
during the year2011and2012 in India is depicted in table 7.1. The data revealed that
maximum accidents occurred in construction industry due to fall from height which
was about one third of the total accidents occurring in this industry followed by
electrocutions.
0
Table 7 .1: Types of accidents in construction industry (lndia)
Years
Type of accidents in construction industry
2011
Fall from height 10483 11052
Explosion (Boiler, Gas cylinder, etc) 481 555
Fire 1401 1432
Electrocutions 8987 8839
Fall into PiUManhole, etc 2638 2480
Suffocations 3209 2063
Collapse 3284 3005
Total 30324 29185
• Vigneshkumar C. (2014). Nature of Fall Accidents in Construction Industry: An Indian Scenario, /JSR
3(11):144-46
The trend in death rates and serious injury rates in coal mine during the years
2006- 2016 is shown in figure 7. 7. This figure shows that death rate and serious injury
rate per 1000 persons employed in coal mines declined steadily during these years.
Declining trend was also observed in death rate in coal mines.
3
- serious Injury Rate per 1000 persons employed
........._ Death rate Per 1000 Persons employed
*"" Death rate Per million tonnes otupt
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Year
Figure 7.7: Trend in death rates and serious injury rates in coal mines
Ref:http://dgms.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Standard_Note_ 01-01-2017636219773233044487.pdf
•
The rate of total injury during the year 2006-2012 by industry wise is shown in
figure 7.8. The data reveals that a declining trend was noticed in the frequency of total
injuries occurs during these years in almost all industries except electricity, gas &
streams and chemicals & chemicals products.
3
• 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012(P)
2.5
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Figure 7.8: Frequency rate of total injuries by industries

Ref: http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_ref14.pdf
•
Trends of industrial fatal injuries during the year 2010-2014 are shown in
figure 7 .9. The data showed a declining trend in the fatalities during these years which
was considerably lower in 2014 as compared to the years 2010 to 2013.
1600 1459 1433

• • •
1383
~
1400
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~ 1000
"2' 800
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400
200
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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014(P)
Years
Figure 7.9: Trends of fatal injuries in factories
Ref: http://dgfasli.nic.in/std_ref/std_re/14.pdf
Occupational Diseases: List of diseases approved for occupational diseases. The

third schedule: list of occupational diseases (ESI act- Section 52 A).
Occupational Disease Employment

PART-A
• Works involving exposure to health or laboratory work
Infectious and parasitic
• Works involving exposure to veterinary work
diseases contracted in an • Works related to handling animals, animal carcasses,
occupation where there is a part of carcasses, or merchandise which may have been
contaminated by animal or animal carcasses
particular risk of
• Other works carrying a particular risk of contamination
contamination
Diseases caused by wok • Works involving exposure to the risk concerned

in compressed air
Diseases caused by lead • Works involving exposure to the risk concerned
or its toxic comP.ounds
Poisoning by nitrous fumes • Works involving exposure to the risk concerned
Poisoning by organic
• Works involving exposure to the risk concerned
phosphorus compounds
PART B : Works involving exposure to the risk concerned as mentioned
Diseases caused by phosphorus or its toxic compounds
Diseases caused by mercury or its toxic compounds
Contd ....
•
Diseases caused by benzene or its toxic homologues
Diseases caused by nitro and amido toxic derivatives of benzene or its homologues
Diseases caused by chromium or its toxic compounds
Diseases caused by arsenic or its toxic compounds
Diseases caused by radioactive substances and ionizing radiations
Primary epithelomatous cancer of the skin caused by tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil,
anthracene, or the compounds, products or residues of these substances
Diseases caused by the toxic halogen derivatives of hydrocarbons (of the aliphatic
and aromatic series)
Diseases caused by carbon disulphide

Occupational cataract due to infrared Radiations
Diseases caused by manganese or its toxic compounds
Skin diseases caused by physical, chemical or biological agents not included in other items
Heating impairment caused by noise
Poisoning by dinitrophenol or a homologue or by substituted dinitrophenol or by the slats
of such substances
Diseases caused by beryllium or its toxic compounds
Diseases caused by fluorine or its toxic compounds
Occupational asthma caused by recognized sensitizing agents inherent to the work process,
Diseases caused by fluorine or its toxic compounds
Diseases caused by nitroglycerine or other nitroacid esters
Diseases caused by alcohols and ketones
Diseases caused by asphyxiants: carbon monoxide, and its toxic derivatives, hydrogen
sulfide
Lung cancer and mesotheliomas caused by asbestos
Primary neoplasm of the epithelial lining of the urinary bladder or the kidney or the ureter
PART C : Works lnvolvln un1 to the risk concamad u mentioned
Pneumoconiosis caused by sclerogenic mineral dust (silicosis, anthraoosilicosis
asbestosis) and silica-tuberculosis provided that silicosis is an essential factor in causing
the resultant incapacity or death
Bagassosis
Bronchopulmonary diseases caused by cotton, flax, hemp and sisal dust (Byssinosos)
Extrinsic allergic alvoelitis caused by the inhalation of organic dusts
Bronchopulmonary diseases caused by hard metals
Ref: http://www. comply4hr. com/docs/nat/esis/ESI 53.htm
•
7 .2 Diseases
The current statistics for overall incidence and prevalence of work-related
disease and injuries is not available for the country. An annual incidence of
occupational disease between 9,24, 700 and 19,02,300 resulted in 1,21,000 deaths
3
due to occupational diseases in lndia • As per WHO, there are about 100 million
1
occupational injuries which leads to 0.1 million deaths all over the world •
1
Ref: http:llwww.nihfw.org/Nationa/HealthProgramme/NATIONALPROGRAMMEFORCONTROL.html
7
Further, based upon Mohan and Patel (1992) data, it was estimated annual
incidence of 17 million injuries (2 million moderate to serious) and 53,000 deaths
3
yearly in agriculture alone in a survey carried out in Northern lndia • In addition,
another estimate of occupational fatality rates in India has been made by Takala and
8
Obadia (1997) and reported a mean of 45,000 deaths and 17 million injuries per year.
In India, silicosis, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, byssinosis,

chronic obstructive lung diseases, musculoskeletal injuries, pesticide and metal
poisoning and noise induced hearing loss are the main occupational
diseases/morbidities. The prevalence of some of the occupational diseases in India
with respect to lung disease is shown in table 7.2. Now contemporary & soft
occupational health problems are also emerging among the workers of Information
technology and related industries in India as substantial number of workers are
engaged in these occupations.
7 .2.1 Silicosis and Silica Related Diseases

The silicosis is a fibrotic lung disease caused by inhalation, retention and
pulmonary reaction with crystalline silica. Despite, adequate knowledge about
etiological factor of the disorder which is caused by respiratory exposure to silica
containing dusts, diagnosis of the diseases is still farfrom real situation. It is a serious
and potential fatal occupational lung disease prevalent throughout the world. The
prevalence of this disease varies greatly in different regions of the world. In India,
exact magnitude of the problem still remains inadequately recognized. The situation is
further aggravated by a considerable proportion of workers working in the varied
unorganized sectors where they are exposed to silica dust without any preventive
measure. Further the occurrence of silicosis greatly increases the risk of development
•
of tuberculosis, which is not only a major public health problem in India but also a
global issue. Free silica is also classified as human carcinogen (IARC, 1997)9.
Silica-exposed workers, with or without silicosis, are at increased risk for
tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis mycobacteria-related diseases. This entity of
prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in silicosis is called silica-tuberculosis. NIOH
reported high prevalence of silica-tuberculosis i.e., 20% among grinders in Agate
10
Industry (Bhagia and Sadhu, 2008) • It was also indicated that the grinders had 10-30
times higher odds of developing tuberculosis as compared to the controls (NIOH,
2000)11.
The workers exposed to silica dust, include slate pencil cutting industry, agate
industry, sandstone quarry, ceramic and pottery industry etc. (Saiyed and Tiwari,
12
2004 ) • Occupational exposure to silica particles of respirable size is associated with
mining, quarrying, drilling, tunneling and abrasive blasting with quartz containing
10
materials (sandblasting) (Bhagia and Sadhu, 2008) • Silica exposure also poses a
hazard to Stone-cutters, and pottery, foundry, ground silica and refractory workers.
In India, -10-12 million workers are exposed to silica at their workplaces. This
includes about 3 million workers working in mines and various industries and about
8.5 million workers engaged in the construction industry, who are exposed to quartz
12 13
(Saiyed and Tiwari, 2004 Jindal, 2013 ), remaining belong to other unorganized
sector. Surveys in some of these industries have shown high prevalence (12-54%) of
14 15 16 11
silicosis (Saiyed eta/., 1985 , 1987 , 1995a , 1995b ).
7
Mohan D and Patel R. (1992) Design of safer agricultural equipment; Application of
ergonomics &epidemiology. Int. J. Ind. Erg. 10:301-09.
8
Takala J and Obadia /. (1997) International dimension of occupational and environmental
health. Environ Man Health. 8:197-198.
•/ARC (1997). /ARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans: Silica,
some silicates, coal dust and para-aramid fibrils. Vol 68. Lyon, France: WHO
10
Bhagia LJ and Sadhu HG (2008). Cost-benefit analysis of installing dust control devices in the
agate industry, Khambhat (Gujarat). Indian J Occup Environ Med; 12:128-31.
11
NIOH (2000) Prevention Control and Treatment of Silicosis &Silico Tuberculosis in Agate
Industry. NIOH Research Project Report. http://icmr.nic.in/000004/project1/ project.htm [Last
access on 0910712014]
12
Saiyed HN and Tiwari RR (2004). Occupational health research in India. Indus Hlth46:141-48
13
Jindal SK (2013). Silicosis in India: past and present. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Med,
19: 163-68.
•
Though, in India many studies (Tiwari and Sharma, 2008 18 ; Chaudhury et
al.,2010 19 ; Kaushik et al., 2012 20 ) have been carried out on the pulmonary effects of
silica exposure, the studies on extra-pulmonary effects of free silica exposure, such as
progressive systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis,
dermatomyositis, glomerulonephritis and vasculitis are limited (Hotz et al., 199521 ;
Haustein and Anderegg, 199822 ). In addition, the number of silicosis cases is under-
reported from the country if the total number of workers engaged in industries is
considered where exposure to silica takes place in the country.
7 .2.2 Asbestos and Asbestos Related Diseases
Asbestos is a collective name given to minerals that occur naturally as fiber
bundles and possess high tensile strength, flexibility and durability (chemical and
physical). Asbestos consists of two basic mineral sets, serpentine (chrysotile) and
amphibole. More than 95% of total asbestos being used worldwide is chrysotile. Due
to its tensile strength and durability asbestos is used in more than 3000 products i.e.
roofing, insulation, pipe and other molded goods, gaskets, friction materials (brake
linings, clutch facings) etc. (ATSDR, 2001a23 ;Subramanian and Madhavan, 200524 ).
In India total use of asbestos is 1.25 lakh tons out of which more than 1.0 lakh ton is
imported (I MY, 2011 )25. Asbestos-cement industries, manufacturing corrugated and
flat sheets, molded goods, pipes etc. are the major consumers of asbestos worldwide,
accounting about 85% of all use. These products contain 10-15% of asbestos (Pigg,
1994)26.
"Saiyed HN et al. (1985). Silicosis in Slate Pencil Worl<ers: An Environmental and Medical Study. Am J Ind
Med8, 127-133.
"Saiyed HN et al. (1987). Pilot Survey of Stone Quarry Worl<ers in Jakhlaun Area of Lalitpur District (U.P.).
NIOH,Ahmedabad, 37-51.
,. Saiyed HN et al. (1995a). Dustiness, Silicosis and Tuberculosis in small scale Pottery worl<ers. Indian J
MedRes102, 138-142.
"Saiyed HN et al. (1995b) Study of Pneumoconiosis in Underground coal miners in India, Kolkata. Report
on ICMR-IDRC; 1-113.
" Tiwari RR and Sharma YK (2008). Respiratory health of female stone grinders with free silica dust
exposure in Gujarat, India. Int J Occup Environ Hlth 14(4): 280-282
"Chaudhury Net al. (2010). Silicosis among agate worl<ers at Shakarpur: An analysis of clinic-based data.
Lung India: Official Organ of Indian Chest Society, 27(4), 221-224.
20
Kaushik R et al. (2012). Pulmonary dysfunctions, oxidative stress and DNA damage in brick kiln worl<ers.
HumanExpToxicol; 31(11): 1083-1091.
21
Hotz Pet al. (1995). Subclinical signs of kidney dysfunction following short exposure to silica in the
absence ofsilicosis. Nephron; 70:438-442.
22
Haustein UF and Anderegg U (1998). Silica induced scleroderma---clinical and experimental aspects. J
Rheumatol; 25(10):1917-26.
"ATSDR (2001 a) Toxicological Profile for Asbestos. NTISAccession No. PB/20011109101. Atlanta, GA:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; 146.
"Subramanian II, Madhavan N (2005). Asbestos problem in India. Lung Cancer; 49 S9-12
•
Human being might expose to asbestos mainly during mining-milling of
asbestos, manufacturing of asbestos products and also cutting-fitting of end products.
Asbestos fibers when inhaled, it may get trapped in the lungs and persist for a long
time. Over the time, these fibers can accumulate and cause scarring and
inflammation, leading to asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma and other serious
health problems (ATS DR, 2006)27. Asbestos has been classified as a known human
carcinogen by IARC and other research agencies (IARC, 197728 ; USEPA, 198429 ;
30 31
ATS DR, 2001 b ; NTP ).
Asbestos exposure when combined with other toxicants may increase risk of
carcinogenesis. I LO estimated that about 100,000 workers worldwide die every year
due to diseases caused by exposure to asbestos (I LO, 2006).
Ref:http:/lwww.ifo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroomlnews/WCMS_007969/fang-enlindex.htm
12
Table 7 .2: Prevalence of occupational lung disease studies
Industry Morbidity Prevalence (%)

Slate Pencil Silicosis 54.5
Slate Pencil (Jain et al., 1977)32 Silicosis 56.3
Agate Polishing Silicosis 38.2
Stone Quarries Silicosis 21.0
Potteries Silicosis 15.2
Stone Crushing Silicosis 12.0
Coal Mines (Underground) Coal worker's pneumoconiosis 2.8

Other respiratory morbidities 45.4
Coal Mines (Open Cast) Coal worker's pneumoconiosis 2.1
Other respiratory morbidities 42.2
Asbestosis 11.0
Manufacture & marketing of Asbestosis 22.0
Industrial Products &Friction
Materials (Murlidhar & Kanhere
33
2005)
Asbestos Textile workers Asbestosis 9.0
Asbestos cement Asbestosis 3-5
•
7.2.2 Pesticide Poisoning
Agriculture being the principal occupation in the country, a considerable
proportion of the population exposes to pesticide or farm chemicals during their
occupation. There is substantial exposure of general population to pesticides through
both water and food contamination. Not only the farmers, but also the women and
children are exposed to pesticides. During the past ten years, WHO projected that the
occurrence of pesticide poisoning has become doubled. United Nations Environment
Protection (UNEP) agency reported that nine of the twelve most unwanted persistent
organic pollutants (PoP's) are pesticide used on agriculture crops and public health
vector control program. These twelve PoP's have been identified by UNEP as a
powerful threat to the human being and wild life health on a global basis (Fisher,
1999t.
The pesticides (insecticide, fungicides, rodenticide, herbicide, germicide,
etc.) are a generic term applied to the agents applied to kill, control, repel or mitigate
any pest. These agents, in turn, also affect non-target organisms and contaminate
soil, water as well as farm produces. Since the volume of use of pesticides in
agriculture dependent countries like India is ever expanding, there has been an
increasing public sensitization concerning risk to the general population. Human
exposure to pesticides takes place through ingestion, inhalation and dermal
absorption. Many commonly consumed foods contain pesticides as contaminants
and more than 90% of exposure comes from food sources only (Gupta,
2004)35.Developing countries use only 20% of the world's agrochemicals, yet they
suffer 99% of deaths from pesticide poisoning due to prevalent of unsafe pesticide
application and handling practices among developing countries (Kesavachandran,
2009)36 .Several studies have been undertaken to examine health and safety of
agricultural workers in India. ICMR has also planned to conduct a multi centric
research program to assess the health effects of pesticides.
2
• /MY (2011 ). Indian Minerals Yearbook 2011, Mineral based industries, Govt. Of India, Ministry of Mines,
Indian Bureau of Mines.
2
• Pigg BJ (1994). The uses of chrysotile. Ann Occup Hyg; 38: 453-458.
21
ATSDR (2006). Asbestos: Health Effects. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry.
http:/lwww.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/asbestos/health_effects/index.html
2
• /ARC (1977). Asbestos. /ARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans,
lntemationa/AgencyforResearch on Cancer. vol. 14. Lyon, France.
2
• USEPA (1984). Health Effects Assessment for Asbestos. United State Environmental Protection Agency,
1984. EPA/54011-861049 (NTIS PB86134608).

30
ATSDR (2001b). Public Health Statement for Asbestos. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phslphs.asp?id=28&tid=4
31
NTP. Report on Carcinogens. Eleventh Edition. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
National Toxicology Program.
32
Jain SM et al. (1977). Silicosis in slate pencil workers. A clinicoradiologic study. Chest; 71(3):423-26.
•
7.2.4 Construction Workers
The construction industry is one of the growing industries in the world and
construction labor from 7.5% of the total world labor force. In India, it is the largest
economic activity after agriculture and it is a labor-intensive industry. It consists 44%
of all urban unorganized workers. This work force comprises 55% of unskilled labor,
37
27% skilled labor and rest the technical and support staff (Kulkarni, 2007 ; Shah and
38 39
Tiwari, 2010 ; Jayakrishnan et al., 2013 ).
Construction workers are exposed to multiple physical, chemical and

biological agents, which make them vulnerable to various health problems that
include- injuries, respiratory problems, dermatitis, musculoskeletal disorders and
gastro-intestinal diseases (Adsul et al., 2011 )4°. The work is hard physical labor, often
under difficult conditions like adverse weather conditions and the nature of work,
hours of work, low pay, poor living conditions with lack of basic amenities and
separations from family, lack of job security and lack of access to occupational health
services make the situation worse (Gurav 200541; Tiwary and Gangopandhyay,
201142).
Additionally, in India construction workers are mostly migrants from remote
villages, less educated and not vigilant with regards to different preventive measures.
Most of them are inter-state migrants and has poor workplace language skills that
prevent them from understanding the safety precautions specified and to voice their
problems (Jayakrishnan et al., 2013)39 • The health problems related with construction
work is depicted in table 7.3. The major problems associated with this profession are
MSD, skin, and injuries.
33
Murlidhar V and Kanhere II. (2005). Asbestosis in an asbestos composite mill at Mumbai: a
prevalence study. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 4, 24.
,. Fisher BE (1999). Most unwanted. Environ Health Persp; 107(1):A18-A23.
35
Gupta PK (2004). Pesticide exposure--lndian scene. Toxicology, 198 (1-3): 83--90.
3
• Kesavachandran CN (2009). Adverse health effects of pesticides in agrarian populations of
developing countries. Reviews Environ ContamToxicol; 200: 33--52.

37
Kulkarni GK (2007). Construction industry: More needs to be done. Ind J OccupEnv Med; 11:1-2.
38
Shah KR and Tiwari RR (2010). Occupational skin problems in construction workers. Indian J
Dermatol; 55:348-51.
39
Jayakrishnan T et al. (2013). Occupational health problems of construction workers in India. Int J Med
Public Health; 3:225-229.
"'Adsul BB et al. (2011). Health problems among migrant construction workers: A unique public-private
partnership project. Indian J Occup Environ Med; 15:29-32
•
Table 7.3: Health problems reported in construction industry in India
Health problems Percentage
Respiratory infection 12.640
4.8641
5.441
Musculoskeletal problems 60.7643
4043
Injuries
7.943
5.21 44
25.4244
4.71 45
Skin problems 11.4645
47.845
4.41 43
Gastrointestinal problems
8.6846
Hypertension 3.449
0.6945
Tuberculosis 1.3844
Further, analysis of cutaneous symptoms in different types of construction
work is shown in Table 7.4. Hair loss and color change on body and also burning effect
was the most prevalent cutaneous symptoms of cement workers in construction
industries.
Table 7.4: Frequency of cutaneous symptoms in different classes of construction

workers (Cement workers)
Symptoms
Burning effect 66 60 70 70 30
Skin rashes/inflammation 26 40 30 38 12
Irritation to skin 36 46 32 25 16
Hair loss & color change on 80 75 65 85 78
body
Ref: http://www.ijsr.net/archive/v3i10/UOVQMTQ2Mjl=.pdf
" Gurav RB (2005). Assessment of daily wage labourers. Indian J Occup Environ Med; 9:115-7.
42
Tiwary G and Gangopadhyay PK (2011). A review on the occupational health and social security of
unorganized workers in the construction industry. Indian J Occup Environ Med; 15:18-24.
43
Occupational Health Hazards in Small Scale and Other Industries. In: Mohopatra R, editor. Occupational
Health Hazards and Remedies. 1.. ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers Pvt. Ltd; 2002. pp.
54-5, 203-4 .
.. Shah CK, Mehta H. (2009). Study of injuries among construction workers in Ahmadabad, Indian J
Practising Doctor 5:4-8.
,. Shah KR, Tiwari RR (2010). Occupational skin problems in construction workers Ind J Dermatol: 55:348-
351.
•
7.2.4 Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD)
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are impairment of bodily structures
such as muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, nerves, bones and localised blood
circulation, that affect or aggravated primarily by work and/or by the work
environment.The causes of work-related MSDs are multi-factorial in origin and
cumulative, including physical, ergonomic, psychosocial and other factors with
repeated exposure over a long period of time. However, MSDs can also be acute
traumas, such as fractures, dislocations of joints etc. as well as chronic exposure
related problems like tenosynovitis, epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome,
DeQuervain's disease, tension neck syndrome etc. MSDs, are also known as
repetitive stress injury, repetitive motion disorder, cumulative trauma disorder etc.
The risk factors for the development of MS Ds are: repetitive work, awkward postures,
painful/tiring positions, carrying or moving heavy loads, exposure to vibrations and
prolonged standing or walking. Some workers at risk of MSD include construction
workers, agricultural workers, machine operators, drivers, loaders and unloaders, etc.
46 47
(EU-OSHA, 2007 ; CCOHS, 2014 ).
Rajgopal (2000) 46 reported that, as per ILO estimates 40% of all costs related
to work-related injuries and diseases are due to musculoskeletal. In some of the
developed countries, it is estimated that nearly 4 million workdays were lost affecting
5,00,000 people per year through MSDs. In India, an observational, descriptive, cross
sectional epidemiological study observed musculoskeletal disorders were most
prevalent (78.5%) problem (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2012)49. Another, study among
Goldsmiths have found musculoskeletal disorder like pain at neck (80%), low back
(75%), wrist(45%)and shoulder(20%) (Ghosh etal., 2010)50. Similar studies on iron
foundry workers (Sharma and Singh, 2014)51, bicycle repairing unit workers
(Mukhopadhyay et al., 2014 )52, rice farmers (Das and Gangopadhyay, 2011 )53, male
jute mill workers (Sett and Sahu, 2012)54, LPG workers, particularly during delivery
(Chowdhury et al., 2012)55, computerized numeric control machine operators
(Muthukumar et al., 2012)56, food grain handlers (Pradhan et al., 2007)57, fish
processing workers (Nag et al., 201258; Das et al., 201259), ceramic and stone
•
quarry workers (Saha and Sadhu, 201360; Nag et al., 201361), medical laboratory
technicians (Maulik et al., 2014)62 and brick field workers (Das, 2014)63 have also
shown the vigor of the problem in different occupational settings. Some of research
gaps related to MSDs include development and validation of tools for evaluation,
determination of individual contributions of psychosocial, biomechanical factors in the
development of MSDs and development of cost effective interventions.
46
EU-OSHA (2007). Introduction to worl< related musculoskeletal disorders. European Agency for Safety
and Health Worl<. http://osha.europa.eu/enlpublications/factsheets/71 [Retrieve on 0510712014].
47
CCOHS (2014). Worl< related Musculoskeletal Disorders. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and
Safety. https:/lwww.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/rmirsi.html
48
Rajgopal T (2000). Musculoskeletal disorders. Indian J Occup Environ Med; 4: 2-3.
... Bandyopadhyay L et al. (2012). Musculoskeletal and other health problems in worl<ers of small scale
garment industry-An Experience from an urban slum. J Dental Med Sci; 6: 23-28.
50
Ghosh T et al. (2010). Worl<-related Musculoskeletal Disorder: An Occupational Disorder of the
Goldsmiths in India. Indian J Comm Med.; 35(2): 321-325.
51
Sharma Rand Singh R (2014). Worl<-related musculoskeletal disorders, job stressors and gender
responses in foundry industry. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 20(2):363-73.
52
Mukhopadhyay Pet al. (2014). Ergonomic risk factors in bicycle repairing units at Jabalpur. Worl<
[Epub ahead of print].
53
Das B and Gangopadhyay S (2011 ). An ergonomics evaluation of posture related discomfort and
occupational health problems among rice farmers. Occup Ergon; 10: 25-38.
54
Sett Mand Sahu S (2012). Study on worl< load and worl<-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst
male jute mill worl<ers of W Bengal, India. Worl< (Reading, Mass.); 42: 289-297
55
Chowdhury SS et al. (2012). Identification of awkward postures that cause discomfort to Liquid
Petroleum Gas worl<ers in Mumbai, India J Occup Environ Med 16(1):3-8.
.. Muthulumar Ket al. (2012). Discomfort Analysis in Computerized Numeric Control Machine
Operations. Saf Health Worl<; 3:146-153
57
Pradhan CK et al. (2007). Physiological and subjective assessment offood grain handling worl<ers in
West Godavari district, India. lndustHlth 45:165-169.
58
Nag A et al. (2012). Risk Factors and Musculoskeletal Disorders among Women Worl<ers Performing
Fish Processing. Am Jlnd Med. 55:833-843
59
Das B et al. (2012). Assessment of Ergonomic and Occupational Health-Related Problems Among
Female Prawn Seed Collectors of Sunderbans, West Bengal, India. Int J Occup Safety Ergonom,
18(4):531-540
60
Saha A and Sadhu HG (2013). Occupational Injury Proneness in Young Worl<ers: A Survey in Stone
Quarries. J Occup Health; 55:333-339
61
Nag PK et al. (2013). Critical Body Temperature Profile as Indicator of Heat Stress Vulnerability.
lndustHealth 51:113-122.
62
Maulik Set al. (2014). Evaluation of the worl<ing posture and prevalence of musculoskeletal
symptoms among medical Laboratory technicians. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 27 (4), 453-461.
63
Das B (2014). Prevalence of worl<-related musculoskeletal disorders among the brick field worl<ers of
West Bengal, India. Arch Environ Occup Health 69(4):231-40.
•
7.2.6 Ship-Breaking
Ship breaking is the process of dismantling a vessel's for scrapping or
disposal, whether conducted at beach, dock, and dry dock or dismantling ship. It
includes a wide range of activities, from eliminating all gear and equipment to cutting
down and recycle the ship's infrastructure. Alang-Sosiya in Gujarat, India is the world's
largest cluster of Ship-breaking engaged in dismantling and an accounts for nearly
90% of ships are recycled/broken at about 180 ship recycling yards in the country
(Deshpande et al., 2012t4. Other centers are located in States of West Bengal,
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra accounting for the rest. The
scale of ship breaking activity all over the world, including at Alang, has gone down
over the years. Apart from providing direct employment to around 60,000 workers
from different parts of the country, the activity provides indirect employment to more
than one lakh people in the services sector and in the downstream industries, such as
65 2
steel re-rolling (Tiwari eta/., 2008 ; MoLE, 2012 ).
Ship breaking is considered to be one of the hazardous industries. The ship

breaking workers are exposed to various hazards such as physical hazards like
exposure to extreme climatic conditions, noise, accidents and injuries, exposure to
asbestos, exposure to lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, iron dust, mercury,
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and biological hazards such as fungal dermatitis, upper
respiratory infections and arthropod borne diseases. Other health hazards include
musculoskeletal disorders, hazards due to working in confined spaces such as
oxygen-deficient or stuffed atmospheres, flammable atmospheres, toxic
atmospheres, or a combination of these; exposure to carbon monoxide; fire and
explosion.
In a study among 402 workers in ship breaking industry atAlang-Sosiya, 11.8 %
reported abnormal chest X-ray findings, while in pulmonary function test, 16%, 1.5%
and 1.2 % were found to have abnormalities of obstructive, restrictive and combined
(obstructive and restrictive) abnormalities respectively. 31.6 % workers reported
MSDs and 18.4% reported blood lead levels >30 g/dl among 125 examined workers
(Tiwari eta/., 2008)65.
•
Rousmaniere and Raj (2007)66 reported that the injuries in ship breaking range
from minor to fatal injuries. The data of fatal accidents during 1995 to 2005 in ship
breaking atAlang and other industries in Gujarat was made available by the DISH,
Gujarat, and exhibits that the average annual incidence of fatal accidents in ship
breaking industry is 2.0/1000 workers. During the last decade, the cause-wise
analysis of fatal accidents in ship breaking industries reveals that the most frequent
cause of injuries was fall from height, fire, struck by falling objects, gassing, striking
against objects, and explosions. During the work of ship breaking the waste materials
are thrown in the vicinity. This is always a source of exposure to various pathogenic
microbiological agents and the chemical agents.
7.3 Metal Toxicity
Lead (Pb) is considered as one of the important environmental poison
affecting almost every organ and organ system in human body. The major
environmental sources of metallic lead are paint, auto exhaust, food and water. In
Industrial setting about 75% of total Pb demand is from battery manufactures in India
with a total annual Pb demand of 1.6 Lakh tons. Some of important targets for Pb
toxicity are nervous, renal, immune and cardiovascular systems. Pb affects these
body systems with both short-term and long-term toxic effects. Chronic Pb poisoning
is commonly through environmental exposure in children and occupational exposure
in adults (Needleman, 2009)67. Some of long term toxic effects are impaired
intellectual and neurological development, anemia, nephropathy, abdominal colicky
pains, weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. Although no level of lead in blood is safe
or normal, the small amount chronic lead exposure may have long-term and
measurable effects in children while without any distinguishing symptoms. The
environmental lead pollution through automobile fuel emission is already regulated in
India. Still there is a need to regulate the use of lead in the country as more and more
data are emerging on adverse effect of lead at lower doses in recent years.
04
Deshpande PC et al. (2012). A novel approach to estimating potential maximum heavy metal exposure to
ship recycling yard workers in Alang, India. The Science Total Environment, 438, 304--311.
65
Tiwari RR et al. (2008). Health Hazards in Ship Breaking Worker of Alang. Annual Report, NIOH,
Ahmedabad; 7-8
•
Mercury (Hg) distribution in environment has been a focus of scientific attention
because of the potential health implications. Exposure to organic mercury occurs
primarily through consumption of fish while inhalation is the main route of exposure for
elemental mercury because 80% of inhaled mercury is absorbed. Other sources of
exposure include ingestion of contaminated food or drink or having skin contact with
liquid mercury. Further, children are more sensitive than adults to mercury. India is
second largest user of mercury in the world which accounts 250 tons annually
68
(Sharma, 2003) • Occupational uses of mercury include manufacture of amalgams,
laboratory equipments, valves, switches and rectifiers; as catalysts, pigments, as
medicines, biocides, and anti-fungal agents.
The major sources of mercury pollution in India are chloralkali industries, coal
fired thermal power plants, steel and cement industries and waste incineration
processes. Chronic mercury toxicity results in sensory impairment (vision, hearing,
and speech), disturbed sensation, lack of coordination, skin discolouration and
desquamation, hypertension, renal dysfunction and neuropsychiatric disturbances
69
(UNEP) • On occupational exposure, higher Hg concentration in blood (79.1 g/L) is
70
reported among goldsmiths (Jayaprakash, 2009) • Though no direct one to one
toxicity reports of mercury through environmental health are available from India,
however along with other environmental pollutants toxic effects of Mercury was
reported in the scientific literature (Thakur et al., 2010)71. NIOH studies observed
higher levels of Mercury among chloralkali plant workers and associated with either
72
CNS or oral morbidity (Karnik et al., 1997) •
"Rousmaniere P and Raj N (2007). Shipbreaking in the Developing World: Problems and Prospects. Int J
Occup Environ Health 13:359--368.
"Needleman H (2009). Low level lead exposure: history and discovery. Annals of Epidemiol 19(4):
235-238
08
Sharma DC (2003). Concern over mercury pollution in India. The Lancet, 362(9389): 1050
•• UNEP. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/lndia-submission.pdf. Guidance and
awareness raisin materials undernew UNEP mercury program (Indian Scenario),
70
Jayaprakash, K (2009). Mercury vapor inhalation and its effect on glutathione peroxidase in goldsmiths
exposed occupationally. ToxicollndustHlth 25(7): 463-465.
11
Thakur JS et al. (2010). Adverse reproductive and child health outcomes among people living near
highly toxic waste water drains in Punjab, India. J EpidemCommHlth 64:148-154.
12
Kamik AB et al. (1997) Immunological and biochemical studies in workers exposed to inorganic
mercury in chloralkali plant. Indian J Indus Med 43: 4-7
•
Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid, ubiquitously present in the
environment and carcinogenic in human affecting millions of people around the world.
About 35 countries across the globe including India especially eastern part are
affected by drinking arsenic-contaminated ground water. In West Bengal, India more
than 26 million people in 9 out of 18 districts are drinking heavily contaminated ground
73 74
water {Mandal et al., 1996 ; Chakraborti et al., 2009 ). Over the past two-three
decades high concentrations of arsenic in ground/drinking water has emerged as a
major public health problem in West Bengal. Apart from West Bengal, arsenic
contamination in ground water has been found in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
75 76
Uttar Pradesh & Assam {Singh, 2006 ; Mukherjee et al., 2006 ). The arsenic
concentrations in some areas of these states are far above the current maximum
contaminant level {MCL) established by WHO i.e. 10 µg/I {WHO, 1996)77.
Long term exposure of arsenic through contaminated water causes a wide
range of adverse health effects, skin lesions including cancers {Banerjee et al., 200?78,
79
2008 ) cardiovascular disease {States et al., 2009)8°, respiratory disease,
82
neuropathies, ocular diseases {Ghosh et al., 2007)81, diabetes mellitus {Tseng, 2004 )
83
and liver disease {Guha Majumder, 2005) • More than 300,000 people in West Bengal
have skin lesions which are hallmarks ofchronic arsenic toxicity {Das et al., 2012)84.
73
Manda/ BK et al. (1996). Arsenic in ground water in seven districts of West Bengal, India-the biggest
arsenic calamity in the world. Cu" Sci 70:976--986
,. Chakraborti D et al. (2009). Status of groundwater arsenic contamination in the state of West Bengal,
India: A 20-year study report. Mo/ Nutr Food Res 53:542-551.
1
• Singh AK (2006). Chemistry of arsenic in groundwater of Ganges-Brahmaputra river basin. Curr Sci
91 (5):599-606.
1
• Mukherjee A et al. (2006). Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater: A Global Perspective with emphasis on
the Asian Scenario, J Health Popul Nutr 24(2):142-163.

11
WHO (1996). Guidelines for drinking water quality: Health criteria and other supporting information.
WHO; 2:940-949.
18
Banerjee M et al. (2007). Polymorphism in the ERCC2 codon 751 is associated with arsenic induced
premalignant hyperkeratosis and significant chromosome aberrations. Carcinogenesis 28 (3):672-676.
79
Banerjee Net al. (2008). Arsenic induced mitochondrial instability leading to programmed cell death in
exposed individuals. Toxicology; 246(2-3):101-111
80
States JC et al. (2009). Arsenic and Cardiovascular disease. Toxicol Sci 107(2):312-323.
81
Ghosh Pet al. (2007). Comparison of health effects between individuals with and without skin lesions in
the population exposed to arsenic through drinking water in W Bengal, India. J Expo Sci Environ
Epidemiol 17(3):215-223.
82
Tseng CH (2004). The potential biological mechanisms of arsenic induced diabetes mellitus. Toxicol Appl
Pharmacol 197:67-83.
83
Guha Mazumder ON (2005). Effect of chronic intake of arsenic-contaminated water on liver. Toxico/ Appl
Pharmacol 206:169--175.
.. Das Net al. (2012). Arsenic exposure through drinking water increases the risk of liver &
cardiovascular diseases in the population of W Bengal, India, BMC Public Health, 12:639
•
7.4 Mining Industry
Minerals have become the strength of economic growth of any country
including India. However, activities of mining remained primitive in nature and
modest in scale in the country till beginning of the century. The production and
demand of various minerals steadily elevated with the industrialization. The total
number of working coal mines is -569, mostly situated in the eastern and central part
of the country located in states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Uttar
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, W. Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and partly in North
Eastern Region. According to Coal Vision 2025 document, coal production is
expected to elevate to 1267 million tons per annum by 2024-25 due to large demand
from the power sector. Most of the oil projects (67) are situated in Assam and Gujarat.
A total of 89 minerals (4-fuel minerals, 11-metallic, 52-non-metallic and 22-minor
minerals) are produced in India and common minerals are bauxite, barytes, chromite,
dolomite, fluorspar, gypsum, kyanite, limestone, manganese ore, asbestos,
magnesite, sillimanite, iron ore, copper, lead and zinc, natural phosphates, sulphur
and crude petroleum. In India, more than one million workers as a direct workforce are
working in the mining industries on daily average basis.
350
• Coal Mines • Non-Coal Mines
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-00 2001-10
Figure 7.10: Showing decade-wise fatalities in coal and non-coal mines.
In coal mines, disasters mostly occur in the underground mines is the major
concern. In the recent past, there has been increased in occurrence of disasters due
85
to fires and explosions (MoLE, 2011 ) •
•
According to decade figure of coal mines, a decline in 295 fatalities from 223
accidents in the year 1951-1960 as compared to 107 fatalities from 86 accidents in
2001-2010 was observed. Same pattern of decline was also observed in non-coal
mines from 81 fatalities from 64 accidents in 1951-60 with respect to 65 fatalities from
55 accidents in 2001-10. (Figure 7.10).
Ref: http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/wg_occup_safety.pdf
Among mine workers, dust-borne chest diseases are the area of major
concern and these diseases are widespread all over the world including India. The
cases of Coal worker's Pneumoconiosis, silicosis, Asbestosis, Manganese poisoning,
86
etc. have been reported from Indian mines industries (Mukherjee et al., 2005 ; Parihar
87
et al., 1997 ). Other occupational diseases such as noise induced hearing
impairment, heat, humidity, vibration etc. have also been reported (Saiyed and Tiwari,
11
2004) •
Other occupational diseases in addition to lung diseases such as injury were

observed in health care workers, construction workers, agricultural workers and
musculoskeletal disorders in IT professionals {Table 7.5).
Table 7.5: Other occupational diseases
Prevalence
Morbidity Workers
(%)
88
L Health care workers (needle stick injuries) 34.8
Injury Construction workers
44
22.92
89
I Agriculture workers 8
Musculoskeletal Computer operators90 75.2
91
disorders Information Technology Professional 77.5
85
MoLE (2011 ). Report of the working group on occupational safety and health for the 12"' five-year plan
(2012 to 2017). Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India .
.. Mukherjee AK et al (2005). Assessment of respirable dust and its free silica contents in different Indian
coalmines. Industrial Health, 43(2):277-284.
"'Parihar YS et al. (1997). Coal workers' pneumoconiosis: a study of prevalence in coal mines of eastern
Madhya Pradesh and Orissa states of India. Industrial Health, 35(4), 467-473.
88
Salelkar Set al. (2010). Study of needle stick injuries among health care workers at a tertiary care hospital.
lndianJ PublicHlth. 4(1):18-20.
89
Das, Banibrata. "Agricultural work related injuries among the farmers of West Bengal, India (2014). •
lntemationaljoumal ofinjury control and safety promotion21.3: 205-215.
•
7.5 Women in Industry: Health and safety
According to 2011 census, nearly half (48.5%) of the Indian population is
contributed by women. The workforce participation rate for females in India stands at
25.51 % with respect to 53.26% for males. In the rural sector, female's workforce has a
participation rate of 30.0% as compared to 53.0% for males. Whereas in urban sector,
females are 15.44% and male's participation rate 53.76%. A major share of female-
main and marginal workers are agricultural laborers with 41.1 %, followed by 24.0% as
cultivators, 5. 7% household industry workers and 29.2% are engaged in other works.
With 9. 7 lakh employees, manufacturing sector occupies the first place for women
employment in the organized sector. The second and third places are held by
'community, social and private services' (8.5 lakh women employees) and 'agriculture,
forestry, fishing and hunting' (4.3 lakh women employees). The share of women
employment in mines was 4.63 percent while it was reported as 3.06 percent in coal
mines during the year 2009 (Labor bureau, 201292 ; CSO, 201393 ).
NIOH has a keen thrust on the problems of women health, towards prevention
of occupational hazards and promotion of health and safety of women workers in
various occupational activities. The studies have been undertaken both in
unorganized and organized sectors. Some of them explored physiological functions in
women agricultural workers in relation to workload, working climate and hand tools.
Others include anthropometric evaluation and nutritional status of women in small
scale industries like beedi industry, garment manufacturing including the work
methods and posture analysis of working women. Institute also worked on various
mental health and work stressors among women workers engaged in
telecommunication, hospital services, beedi industry, garment manufacturing, Khadi
textiles (Indian cotton cloth) etc.
7.6 Occupational Health and Safety of Young Workers
Children are future of any nation and their adequate development is utmost
90
Dinesh Bhanderi, et al. (2008). A Study of Occurrence of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Computer
Operators. Indian J Commun. Med., 33: 65-66
1
• Sharma AK. et al. (2006). Computer Related Health Problems Among Information Technology
Professionals in Delhi. Indian J Commun. Med. 31: 36-38.
•
priority of the country. Constitution of India, has laid down that the State shall direct its
program towards protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and shall not
be employed in any industrial unit or mine or engaged in any hazardous employment.
Unfortunately, it was estimated that about 1.2 billion individuals across the world, aged
10-19 years are involved in working. The negative impact on the physiological and
psychological levels of children includes specific concerns of child labour and its
consequences on physical growth and development as well as mental health
(Srivastava, 2011)94. As per 2011 national census of India reported total number of
child workers aged 5-14 years was around 11.7 million out of which 4.3 million were
main workers and the rest were marginal workers (Census, 2011 )05 working in various
sectors like agricultural, leather industry, mining and match-making industries. NIOH
has conducted several studies on health and safety of young workers across different
occupations such as brick industry, footwear industry, stone query, gem polishing, fire
crackers etc. N IOH studies reported that health problems such as injuries,
neurotoxicity, risk of cancer, skin ailments in foot wear industry (Tiwari, 2005)06 •
Most of the occupational diseases such as asbestosis, silicosis, coal worker's

pneumoconiosis etc. are compensable. However, very few cases are compensated
because of the lack of awareness amongst the workers and diagnostic errors and also
lack of knowledge of procedure to be adopted by the stakeholders to get
compensation as well as lack of awareness about OHS and welfare schemes among
workers. Thus there is a need of adequate manpower in the area of OHS in India so
that OHS can be strengthen to improve the industrial work environment safety and
health.
02
Labour Bureau (2012). Statistical Profile on Women Labour 2009-2011. Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour
and Employment, Govt. of India, Chandigarh/Shim/a.
"CSO (2013). Women and Men in India 2013, 15" Issue. Central Statistics Office, National Statistical
Organization, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt of India, New Delhi.
04
Srivastava K (2011). Child labour issues and challenges. Industrial Psychiatry J. 20: 1-3
05
Census (2011). Census of India 2011. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
http://www.censusindia.gov.in [Retrieve on 0510712014]
,. Tiwari RR (2005). Child labour in footwear industry: Possible occupational health hazards. Indian J
Occup Environ Med; 9:7-9
•
Chapter 8
Policies and Programs of Employers' and

Workers' Organizations
Joint family system is practiced in the country since long time. In joint family,
members always took care of the social security necessities for each other. Owing to
this, Indian cultural traditions, family members as well as closed relatives and friends
have always discharged a sense of shared responsibility. Now, large family structure is
declining due to increasing migration, urbanization and demographic alterations.
Therefore, the formal system of social security gains importance. It is recognized that
information and awareness are the vital factors in broadening the coverage of social
security schemes in the country. Social security benefits in the country are need-
based i.e. the element of social assistance is more important in the publicly-managed
schemes. In Indian context, social security is a comprehensive approach aimed to
prevent deprivation, assure the individual of a basic minimum income for himself and
dependents and to safeguard the individual from any uncertainties. The State bears
the principal responsibility for evolving appropriate system for providing protection
and support to its workforce. Social security has become an integral part of the
process. It helps to create a more constructive attitude to the challenges of
globalization and results in structural and technological changes.
Ref: http://labour.gov.inlcontentldivisionlsocia/-security.php
8.1 Organized and Unorganized Sectors
In general, the organized sectors are primarily those establishments which

are covered under the Factories Act, 1948, the Shops and Commercial
Establishments Acts of State Governments, the Industrial Employment Standing
Orders Act, 1946 etc. Above mentioned acts have measures for social security
benefits which provides protection to workers under these legislations.
Ref: http://labour.gov.inlcontentldivisionlsocial-security.php
•
The workers of unorganized sector are scattered and fragmented areas of
employment, sometime seasonality of employment, job insecurity, low legislative
protection due to their migrant nature, unawareness, and higher rate of
unemployment, mismatch between the training facilities and the training
requirements, lower literacy, customs like child marriage, unnecessary expenditure
on ritualistic celebrations resulted to indebtedness and captivity, etc., primitive and old
fashioned production technologies are further compounded, not facilitating these
workers to absorb and assimilate modern technologies for better production.
"The workers of unorganized sector can be broadly divided into following
categories:
a) Occupation: Small and marginal farmers, landless agricultural labourers,
share croppers, fishermen, those engaged in animal husbandry, in beedi
rolling beedi labelling and beedi packing, building and construction workers,
etc.
b) Nature of Employment: Attached agricultural labourers, bonded labourers
migrant workers, contract and casual labourers.
c) Especially distressed categories: Toddy tappers, scavengers, carriers of
head loads, drivers ofanimal driven vehicles, loaders and un-loaders.
d) Service categories: Midwives, domestic workers, fishermen and
fisherwomen, barbers, newspaper vendors, fruit and vegetable vendors etc".
Ref:http://planningcammissian.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp/wg_soclscty.pdf
Nearly two-thirds of India's population is under young group, a large segment

is either just entering the workforce or working for one or two years. There are around
-482 million active workforces with majority of the rural population and women being a
significant contributor (Census, 2011 )95 • Recent years the population folds as well as
the workforce have exponentially cascaded up. The workforce distribution as per
economic sector in the country is different as compared to industrialized countries.
The organized sector includes workers employed by the government, state-owned
enterprises and private sector enterprises. The organized sector accounts for
approximately 6% of the total workforce and rest 94% workforce are employed in the
unorganized sector (MoLE, 2012)2.
•
8.2 Synopsis of Social Security Laws
'The main social security laws enacted in India are as follows:
1. The Employee's State Insurance Act, 1948 (ES/ Act): It covers factories and
establishments with 10 or more workers and provides for comprehensive medical
care to the employees and their families as well as cash benefits during sickness
and maternity, and monthly payments in case of death or disablement.
2. The Employee's Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (EPF &
MP Act): It applies to specific scheduled factories and establishments employing
20 or more workers and ensures terminal benefits to provident fund,
superannuation pension, and family pension in case of death during service.
Separate laws exist for similar benefits for the workers in the coal mines and tea
plantations.
3. The Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 (The Workmen's Compensation Act)

The payment of compensation to the workman or his family in cases of injuries
resulting in employment related death or disability.
4. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (MB Act): In this act, 12 weeks wages provided
during maternity and paid leave in certain other related contingencies.
5. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (PG Act): Under this act, 15 days wages for
each year of service are mandate to provide to the employees who have worked
for five years or more in organizations with a minimum of 10 workers.
In addition, workers of coal Mines and Tea Plantations in the State of Assam and for
Seamen have a separate provident fund legislation".
Ref: http://labour.gov.in/contentldivision/social-security.php
8.3 Insurance schemes
8.3.1 Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC}
"The ESIC provides social security benefits to insured workers of the

organized sector. The challenging task of developing various benefit schemes for the
different group of workers has been taken up by ESIC, as per the Employees
•
Provident Fund organization (EPFO). The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
applies to the factories and organization such as Newspaper Establishment, Motor
Transport undertaking, Hotel, Restaurants, Cinemas, Shop, Educational and Medical
Institution in which ~ 10 persons are employed. Whereas, the threshold limit for
coverage of establishment is still 20 workers in eight States. This Act covers
employees earning wages upto Rs. 15000/month and Rs. 25000/month for
permanently disabled employees. Presently, the scheme covers -1.86 crores insured
workers at 810 Centers in 30 States/UTs. About 7.21 crores beneficiaries including
family members of insured persons are availing medical care under this scheme.
Medical attendance, treatment, drugs and injections, specialist consultation

fees and hospitalization to insured persons, their family as well as their dependents
are covered under comprehensive medical care provision of ESIC Scheme. The ESI
Scheme delivers following benefits to the insured persons:
> Medical Benefit: In this scheme full and comprehensive medical treatment
provided to the insured persons as well as to their families includes
hospitalization, referral treatment and artificial limbs, dentures etc. This benefit is
available to the insured persons from the date when they enter insurable
employment and is continued thereafter subject to fulfill the condition of 78 days in
6 monthly contribution periods.
> Sickness Benefit: A benefit of 91 days in a year with 70% of their wages is entitled
for the insured persons in sickness under this scheme. This scheme is extended
up to 2 years in chronic illness and rate of payment of benefit is - 80% of his
wages. For this, the insured persons are required to have contribution for a
minimum of78 days to the scheme in a 6 monthly contribution period.
> Maternity Benefit: Under the maternity benefit scheme, payment of full wages for
12 weeks plus additional one month are provided in case of illness arising out of
pregnancy, delivery etc. The insured female workers are required to have
contribution for 70 days in preceding two contribution periods for entitlement to
maternity benefit.
•
> Disablement Benefit: In case of, disablement due to employment injury or
occupational diseases the insured person is entitled for payment of periodical
benefit at - 90% of his wages during the period and person can abstains from the
duty for treatment. For this benefit, there is no contributory condition. After the
treatment is over, if any residuary permanent disablement remains, a Medical
Board can decide the daily rate of compensation as a percentage of the full rate.
> Dependent Benefit: The family of worker is entitled to payment of dependent

benefit at the rate about 90% of his wages in case of death due to employment
injury. Forth is also, there is no contributory condition.
> Funeral Expenses: A sum of Rs.10,000/-is paid for funeral expenses in the case
of the death of the insured persons.
> Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana (Unemployment Allowance Scheme):

The Govt. introduced the Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana in 2005. Under this
scheme, employees who lose employment are entitled to get unemployment
Allowance equal to 50% of their wages upto one year, due to closure of factories/
establishments, retrenchment or permanent invalidity.
Table 8.1 shows the occupational diseases with respect to employment as

per the employee state Insurance Act, 1948".
Ref: http://labour.gov.in/contenf/division/social-security.php
Table 8.1: The employees state insurance Act, 1948 (Sch.Ill) Part- C
Occupational Disease Employment
Pneumoconiosis caused by sclerogenic mineral dust
Works involving exposure to the
(silicosis, anthraosilicosis asbestosis) and silico-
tuberculosis provided that silicosis is an essential risk concerned
factor in causing the resultant incapacity ordeath
Works involving exposure to the
Bagassosis
risk concerned
Bronchopulmonary diseases caused by cotton, flax, Works involving exposure to the
hemp and sisal dust (Byssinosis) risk concerned
Extrinsic allergic alveloitis caused by the inhalation Works involving exposure to the
of organic dusts risk concerned
Bronchopulmonary diseases caused by hard metals Works involving exposure to the
risk concerned
Ref: http://www.comply4hr.com/doc/naUesis/ESIS3.htm
•
8.3.2 Extension of Coverage
Government made instructions for time to time to social security policy

makers and administrators to conduct extensive debate to solve the problems in
providing social security by involving all the stakeholders. These debates involve
various arguments on the effectiveness of publicly managed social security measures
as compared to privately managed schemes. Further, after the mandatory schemes
managed publicly, privately managed schemes can be considered as additional
schemes. However, publicly managed scheme will cover to all the segments of the
workforce. The coverage gap in community security provisions has to be addressed at
two levels. The re-engineering of the institutional arrangements to increase efficacy is
included in the first level and second level is to generate a proper legislative and
administrative framework for considerable elevation in the social security coverage
especially for the unorganized sector. In India, -35 million out of 400 million workforce
have access to formal social security as old-age income protection which includes
private sector workers, civil servants, employees of State Public Sector undertakings
and military personnel. Further, 26 million workers out of 35 million workers are
members of the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Presently, publicly
managed system in India is more or less entirely secured by the EPFO. An important
input of EPF is now planned to extend the critical benefit to the members of EPFO that
aims to provide a cost effective Housing Scheme under the ShramikAwas Yojana.
Ref: http://labour.nic.in/general-overview
8.4 Three Major Non-contributory Laws

8.4.1 Employee's Compensation Act, 1923
"Employee's Compensation Act is the oldest act of social security legislations
for the welfare of workers in the country. Presently, the Act is applicable to workers
employed in 50 hazardous occupations/employments. There was a wage ceiling for
coverage under the Act when it was originally came into force. Later, it was removed
and now applicable to all the workers including casual workers employed in industries
etc. This Act takes care both contingencies such as disablement and death due to
•
employment injury. In these contingences, a lumpsum compensation amount is paid
to the disabled worker or their dependents. The maximum amount of compensation
for permanent disablement is Rs 5.48 /akhs and Rs 4.56 /akhs for death. In case of
temporary disablement of worker's monthly payments are made at the rate of 50% of
wages upto 5 years.
This is an employer's liability scheme that relies upon the good behavior of
employers. The compensations are paid and the workers' rights are protected as per
the Act where the employers are enlightened orthere are powerful trade unions. There
is a tendency to deny or pay an insignificant compensation in other cases. In such
cases the only solution left with the stakeholders are to contact the State Labor
Department concerned which goes upto arbitration that is a time consuming process.
Very often, small employers even with good intentions do not have adequate funds to
fulfill their liabilities.
The lump sum payment received by the worker or their dependent, does not
meet the real social security. There is a tendency in our society to spend the money
immediately even on non-essential items. Therefore, the lump sum amount received
is spent within a short period of time and worker or dependents are again in dire
consequences of financial crisis. Moreover, there is a system of indexing, which takes
care of the adverse effect of elevation in cost of living to a large extent in the case of
periodical pensions. Such a provision is not available in the Employee's
Compensation Act. The Employee's Compensation Act is not applicable to those
workers who are covered by the ES/ Act".
Ref: http://pfanningcommission.nic.in/aboutuslcommitteelwrkgrp/wg_soclscty.pdf
8.4.2 Maternity BenefitAct, 1961

"This Act is applicable to all establishment such as factory, plantation or mine
and shop or establishment in which 10 or more females are employed. With the
approval of the Central Government, the State Governments may declare that all or,
any of the provisions of the Act shall apply to any other establishments also. In this Act,
female workers are eligible for paid holidays not exceeding 12 weeks in the case of
maternity with full wages. Pre-natal confinement and post-natal care free of charge is
•
also a provision under the act failing which employer is liable to pay medical bonus of
Rs.250/day. In the case of miscarriage, maternity leave is available for a period of six
weeks. Further, a provision is also there for sick leave for a period not exceeding one
month in case of sickness arising out of maternity. Later, maternity benefit act was also
amended providing more facilities to women and came into force in 2"'11' March 2017.
This Act is also based on employer's liabilities. Like Employee's

Compensation Act, the actual implementation of the benefit provisions under this Act
is also depend broadly upon good will of the employer. Sometimes it is difficult for the
workers to get benefit of the provisions under this Act".
Ref: http://pfanningcommission.nic.in/aboutuslcommitteelwrkgrp/wg_soclscty.pdf
8.4.3 Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

"The Act came into force in 1972 and applies to factories, mines, plantations,
oil fields, ports, railway companies, and shops and establishment employing ten or
more persons, as it is extended all over the India and other establishments included by
notification are Motor Transport, Inland Water Transport, Clubs, Chambers of
Commerce & Industry, Local Bodies and Solicitors Office. This Act provides for lump
sum payment of gratuity to the employees. Under this act, the gratuity is payable @ 15
day wages for every completed yearof service subject to monetary ceiling of Rs 3.50
lakh. In case of seasonal establishments gratuity is payable @ 7 day's wages. The
gratuity is payable in the contingency of superannuation, retirement, resignation,
death or disablement due to accident or disease subject to completion of 5 years
continuous service. The condition is however, not applicable in case of death or
disablement. Like Employee's Compensation Act and Maternity Benefit Act the
Payment of Gratuity Act is also an employer's 'liability schemes'. Many of the
provisions of this Act also are not fully observed by the employers in the absence of
proper enforcement. The financial constraints of small employers also add to the
problems".
•
Chapter 9
Suggestions to Strengthen OHS
There are several rules, regulations and provisions in OHS policy which are
adopted as well as amended time to time by Govt. of India in order to strengthen OHS.
Still there is scope to strengthen the OHS policy in the country especially in
unorganized sectors, as about 94% of the workers are in this sector and most of them
are not adequately served with OHS. The working group on OSH, MoLE, Govt. of
India, 2011 recognized that there are some constraints in the OHS policy of the
country and suggested a number of measures to be taken in order to strengthen the
OHS policy in the country which will not only help workers but also employers as well
as country as a whole will be benefited. We suggest some measures which can be
adopted to improve OHS.
9.1 Constraints I Suggestions:
Owing to current scenario of OHS in the country, the following suggestions
are made which will be useful to adopt OHS in the country thereby helpful to
workers as well as employers and country as a whole.
9.1.1 Research and OHS database

Need for research and data base on OHS and future projection of traditional
occupational diseases as well as emerging occupational issues pertaining to IT and
associated sectors from the country. Data on occupational diseases of the country is
required based upon the existing information on epidemiological survey and related
studies. A national program of occupational lung disorders is needed in order to
document such diseases methodologically as only few cases of such diseases are
reported inspite of a very large number of workers are engaged in occupations which
can lead to occupational lung diseases .
•
9.1.2 Infrastructure on OHS
Strengthen the infrastructure and manpower of institutions that are involved
in occupational and environmental health research in the country as India is the
second largest country in terms of population and remarkable industrial growth
occurs in recent years. Therefore, substantial manpower as well as infrastructure is
needed to match with industrial growth as well as to cover all the workers under OHS.
Therefore, coordination requires among all the stakeholders, in order to implement
OHS effectively in the country.
9.1.3 Regional Occupational Health Research Centre (ROHC)

Establishment of regional occupational health center in the country is an
necessary step in order to look after the regional occupational health problems to
cover all the regions of the country adequately. There is a need to establish ROHC
especially in hilly area of Northern region and areas of North-Eastern region as the
occupations are different in these regions as compared to other parts of the country
that have different posture and work environment.
9.1.4 Collection and Compilation

Need for compilation of data collected quickly, methodology of collection and
proper coordination is required between state and central agency for data collection,
compilation and information dissemination. For this purpose, information technology
should be adopted so that collected data should also be made available to all the stack
holders in time frame manner. Further, data should be made available in a common
prescribed format from all the states and UTs to the central agency. This will help quick
compilation and dissemination for this information. The information technology can be
used foran effective dissemination of the OHS data.
9.1.5 Evaluation of effectiveness of control strategy

Need for evaluation of effectiveness of control strategy (periodic medical and
environmental monitoring) at work places. There should be mechanism of periodic
monitoring of OHS issues. This will serve the purpose such as 1) early detection of
•
occupational morbidity 2) management of occupational diseases 3) evaluation of the
success of control strategy and 4) compliance of law. The monitoring would be
helpful to control occupational injuries and diseases.
9.1.6 GIS Mapping of Occupational Diseases

Further, need for Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping with
respect to occupational diseases in the country and Information Education &
Communication {IEC) for OSH should be developed with respect to the concerned
diseases and area wise and the same may be updated periodically. This will help to
understand, requirement and monitoring of OHS.
9.1.7 Information, Education and Communication Especially for

Unorganized Sector
There is a need for I EC in India as per the country requirements as about 94%
workers are employed in unorganized sectors in the country. These workers are
mostly illiterate, under educated and also do not know about OHS policy. The
implementation of IEC for these workers will not only help in adopting OHS for these
workers but they would also be contributing with good health to the national economy.
9.1.8 Awareness among stakeholders

Making awareness about the OHS among workers, trade unions and
management and owners is also necessary. In India, about 94% of the workers are
employed in unorganized sectors, largely illiterate and unaware of the hazards
associated with their occupation. Similarly, sometimes owners or management are
also unaware about the possible hazards in their factories. Therefore, there is a need
to conduct awareness and health education program for the workers, supervisors
and management. In addition, Health education program should also include advice
not to drink, eat and avoid tobacco smoking and chewing at workplace etc. and also
to adopt healthy life style .
•
9.1.9 Need for Incorporating OHS in Medical and Engineering courses
Revision of medical & engineering curriculum is required which may include
basic occupational & environmental health issues. Even though OHS is part of
Community Medicine in undergraduate curriculum, there should be more emphasis
on Occupational health and Safety in order to orient this young graduate towards
OHS. With this they would at least partially be able to recognize occupational
diseases and manage the minor conditions to some extent and they can refer serious
cases to the specialized hospitals/doctors.
9.2 The working group on occupational safety and health (2012- 2017) of
Ministry ofLabor and Employment, Govt. ofIndia made the following
suggestions:
9.2.1 Implementation of the National Policy on OSH & Environment and
Need ofanApexBodyon OHS
The National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at workplace was
declared on 20-02-2009. The vital purpose of this Policy is not only to eradicate the
occurrence of work associated diseases, fatalities, disaster and loss of national
assets but achieving high level of OSH through proactive approaches for the welfare
of workers and society. There is no agency exclusively dealing with Occupational
Safety & Health. There is a need for an agency to cover the safety and health issues of
workers exclusively for unorganized sectors and an apex body at national level to deal
the matters associated with safety and health in this sectors.
9.2.2 Need for Strengthening of Enforcement Authorities and Enhancement

of OSH skills
The adequate and competent enforcement officials are needed to ensure
compliance of OSH legislations after rapid liberalization in the industrial sector and
advancement of technologies. For this purpose, suitable manpower would be
required to maintain a high level of OSH at workplace, it is necessary that all the
stakeholders such as Safety Officers, Supervisors, Medical Officers, Occupational
Health Nurses, Industrial Hygienists, Fire Personnel, Members of Emergency
•
Response Group, Safety Committee Members, Union Representatives, etc. need to
be trained/updated periodically on the latest developments of OSH.
9.2.3 Need for National database, OSH Management system and to

improve the existing set up of OSH
According to the injury data, it is obvious that there is a need to compile the
latest statistics of injuries from all the states and union territories. There is an urgent
need for on line data transfer facility for compilation of national data with standardized
OSH database system with the National Policy on Safety Health and Environment at
workplace. The rapid technological advancements are also bringing changes in
working environment, work processes and systems. Therefore, need to enhance the
capability of organizations to tackle OSH challenges which can be achieved by
formulating and initiating an OSH Management System. The ILO developed
voluntary guidelines on OSH Management Systems that reflects its values and
instruments pertinent to the protection of worker's safety and health. A multi-
disciplinary approach must be adopted by involving all the stakeholders and
measures should be implemented in order to improve the prevailing OSH.
9.2.4 Implementation of National Policy on Occupational Safety, Health &

Environment and Amendment of Factories Act, 1948
During the 12th five-year plan, DGFASLI has proposed to implement the
National Policy effectively in the manufacturing and port sector through involvement of
various stakeholders in the activities such as developing accurate standards, practice
manuals on safety, health and environment comprising international standards and
implementation by the stake holders. Developing a national network system on OSH
with respect to safety, health and environment at work places by prioritizing the main
issues, and conducting national studies or surveys. The Factories Act, 1948 was last
amended in 1987. Thereafter, the DGFASLI had proposed a number of additional
provisions to be added in the Act with regards to changing industrial, technological and
socio-economic scenario .
•
9.2.5 Setting up of the suitable Accreditation Mechanism to recognize
institutions, professionals and services relating to Safety & Health
The National Policy on Safety Health and Environment at workplace - Under
clause 4.3.8, a suitable Accreditation Mechanism is required to recognize institutions,
professionals and services relating to Safety, Health and Environment for uniformity
and greater coverage of OSH. A suitable mechanism would be place in consultation
with professional bodies such as Bureau of India Standards (BIS), Quality Council of
India (QCI) etc.
9.2.6 Need to carry out research project to identify, control and eliminate the
prevalence of silicosis and asbestosis
The Honorable Supreme Court of India issued a number of directions for
actions to be initiated by the main stake holders, especially to the Ship breaking and
Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises after the writ petitions filed by a number of
NGO's where the asbestos handling is substantial. There is a growing pressure for
action to protect the workers against exposure to Chrysotile asbestos fibers.
The problem of silicosis in the country is more severe among the workers of
unorganized sector, which does not fall under the purview of the Factories Act.
Subsequent to Honorable Supreme Court of India's direction and the initiatives of the
National Human Rights Commission for protecting the human right of workers of
unorganized sector affected with silicosis has brought the status of these workers to
limelight. Government has recognized the existence of this devastating occupational
diseases and emphasize the need for inter sectoral cooperation and public private
partnership to tackle the issue of Silicosis and Silica-tuberculosis.
9.2. 7 Nation-wide Yearly Campaigns on various OSH issues and Seminar/

Workshop/Training
Implementing the National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at
Workplace DGFASLI recommends organizing yearly campaigns on Respiratory
Diseases, MSDs, Central Nervous System (CNS), Dermatitis, Noise and Vibration
•
through various awareness programs. There is a need to hold seminars, workshops
and specialized trainings on the issues of OSH that aimed to improve the OSH
performance thereby preventing accidents, injuries and diseases.
9.2.8 Amendment/Notifications of Dock Workers Safety, Health and Welfare

(SHW}Act, 1986
The inland container depots (I CDs) are established wherein loading and de-
loading of imported goods as well as cargo meant for export are being carried out.
Presently, the provisions under Dock Workers Act (1986) are not applicable to these
ICDs. The Dock Workers (SHW) Act 1986 is applicable to all ports in the country. The
Central Government is empowered to frame Rules and Regulations in respect of major
ports and State Governments with respect of non-major ports. MoLE has notified the
Dock Workers (SHW) Regulation 1990 applicable to 12 major ports of the country and
State Governments should cover all the non-major ports.
9.2.9 Providing Statutory Backing for OSH Management Systems in Industry

Rapid technological development in the industry is leading to a profound
change in the working environment, work processes and organizations. Creating an
effective management response system is required to make organizations self-
sustainable so that they can deal with OSH challenges continuously. However, there is
a need for uniformity in executing OSH systems in industries to create a OSH
database of the nation and the incorporation of Occupational Safety and health
management system (OSH-MS) with various manufacturing systems are needed at
organization level based on ILO-OSH 2001 guidelines which will be useful to
decrease the occupational related injuries and illness
9.2.10 Strengthening of Enforcement System, Competence enhancement

of officials and Industry personnel
Need for strengthening of the enforcement system at the factory, State or
national level. For propagation of information between CIFs and its subordinate
offices within the state as well as CIFs and DGFASLI at national level, online data
•
transfer facility is needed on priority basis. The introduction of online data transfer
would make a way to fulfill the gap in standardization of OSH data at the National as
well as State level.
With the industrial liberalization, it is important to develop competence of
DGFASLI and officers working under state govt. factories and ports as well as
redesign their function as a guide, philosopher and friend not as an inspector. This will
help in achieving the dual goal of improvements in the OSH standards and undue
criticism for interference in the industry.
9.2.11 OSH managementsystem in industries

Need for uniformity in implementing the OSH systems in industries. To reduce
work-related injuries or illness, incorporation of occupational safety and health
management systems (OSH-MS) with other manufacturing systems (namely IS
18001:2000) at the organization level based on ILO-OSH 2001 guidelines is
necessary.
Ref: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/ed_protecVprotrav/safework/documents/policy/wcms_211795.pdf
Occupational diseases and injuries are preventable and there is no room for
complacence or defeatism. OHS will result in the increased production, productivity of
healthy workers, reduction in sickness absenteeism, retention of skilled manpower
and reduction in expenditure/resources on medical thereby contributing to the
national economy by enhancing industrial growth and quality as well as worker's
health and environment. This will be an essential step for achieving the Hon'ble prime
minister, Government of India's goal of "Make in India's" program. Moreover, there will
be gross reduction in the cost of medical care and resources that can be used in
infrastructure development and other advancements .
... Prevention is better than cure ...
•
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health AllHPH
Associate Fellow of Industrial Health AFIH
Basic Occupational Health Services BOHS
Branch Office BO
British Standardization Institute BSI
Bureau of Indian Standards BIS
Center for Rehabilitation Studies CRS
Center for Science and Environment CSE
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR
Central for Occupational and Environmental Health COEH
Central Industrial Health Association Hygiena CIHA
Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research CIMFR
Central Labor Institute CLI
Central Nervous System CNS
Chlorofluorocarbons CF C's
Confederation of Indian Industries Cll
Diploma in Industrial Health DIH
Director General of Health Services DGHS
Directorate Industrial Safety and Health DISH
Directorate General of Factory Advice Service and Labor Institute DGFASLI
Directorate General of Mines Safety DGMS
Employee's Provident Fund Organization EPFO
Employee's State Insurance Corporation ESIC
Employee's State Insurance Scheme ESIS
Environmental Management System EMS
Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce Industries FICCI
Geographic Information System GIS
Government Govt.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points HACCP
Head Quarter HQ
Health and Safety Environment HSE
Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR
Indian Institute of Public Health llPH
Indian Standard Institution ISi
Indian Institute of Toxicology Research ITRI
Information Education and Communication ii TR
•
Inland Container Depots ICDs
Institute of Science and Technology Applied Research ISTAR
International Commission of Occupational Health ICOH
International Labor Organization ILO
International Organization of Standardization IOS
Mahatma Gandhi Labor Institute MGLI
Master of Industrial Hygiene and Safety MIHS
Maulana Azad Medical College MAMC
Maximum Contaminant Level MCL
Medical Officers MO
Mine Labor Protection Campaign MLPC
Ministry of Labor and Employment Mo LE
Musculoskeletal Disorders MSDs
National Institute for Research in Environmental Health NIREH
National Institution for Transforming India NITI
National Institute of Occupational Health NIOH
National Safety Council NSC
National Sample Survey Organization NSSO
Occupational Health OH
Occupational Health and Safety OHS
Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series OH SAS
Occupational Health Centers OH Cs
Occupational Safety and Health OSH
Occupational Safety and Health Management System OSH-MS
People Training Research Center PTRC
Quality Council of India QCI
Regional Occupational Health Center ROHC
Regional Office RO
Research and Development R&D
Research Design and Standard Organization ROSO
South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAA RC
Self Employed Women Association SEWA
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises SM E's
Union Territories UT's
United Nations Environment Protection UNEP
United States of America USA
World Health Organization WHO
Work Participation Rate WPR
•
Occupational Health & Safety

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OHS Profile India

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Health and Safety at Work

ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan DG, ICMR & Secretary OHR, MoHFW,

First Edition-June 2017

I am happy to note that National Institute of Occupational health has taken up

I am thankful to Dr. Anupama Sharma (PDF), Ms. Ksh Chaoba Devi,

Chap 2: Occupational health and safety legislative framework 7 -15

a) Reference to OHS requirements in the constitution

Chap 3: Coordination and collaboration mechanisms 16-19

a) At the national level

Chap 4: OSH technical standards, guidelines 20-23

a) OSH management system at enterprise level:

a) Overview on statistics of factories at a glance

Chap 6: OSH system implementation: means and tools 31-42

a) Occupational health and services-Indian scenario

Chap 7: Occupational accidents and diseases 43-69

a) Occupational injuries, accidents & diseases

Chap 8: Policies and programs of employers' and 70-77

a) Organized and unorganized sectors

Chap 9: Suggestions to strengthen OHS 78-85

General Demographic Information

CONTRIBUTION TO GDP BY SECTORS (2013)

Figure 1: Different sectors contributed to GDP in SAARC countries (2013)

1.1 Demographic data

1.1.1 Profile- Economic and Health

Table 1.2. India Statistical Profile- Economic and Health

Total fertility rate 2.5(per woman) 2013

2 Number of live birth 25595.2(thousands) 2013

3 Number of deaths 9944.9(thousands) 2013

4 Birth registration coverage 84(%) 2011

5 Cause of death registration coverage 8(%) 2007

1.3 Levels ofliteracy

1.4 Labor force

Occupation Workforce (Percentage )

Table 1.4. Occupational categories in different sector (2004-05)

Occupational Health, Safety Legislative Framework

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is an area concerned with health,

National Regulatory Framework

2.2.1 The Factories Act, 1948 and Amended in 1987

2.2.3 The Mines Act 1952

2.2.4 The Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996

"The Building and Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and

1. Arrangement can be made for temporary living accommodation within or near

2. Making adequate provisions for safety and health measures including

3. Empowering the Central Government to frame model rules for safety

2.2.5 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

2.3 State Factories Directorates/ Chief Inspector ofFactories

2.4 Role of International Labour Organization (ILO) standards

OSH related conventions are:

"Convention No. 16 Medical examination of young persons (Sea)

Convention No. 18 Employee's Compensation (Occupational Diseases)

> "Mines Rules, 1955

Electricity Act, 2003

Factories Act, 1948: Chapter Ill & IV

Manufacture, Storage & Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 -

Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885

The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Act, 1974"

Table 2.1. Status of ILO conventions related to mines

•1;.1.e; .m.1.1 Subject Status

1 1 Hours of work Ratified by Govt.

2 14 Weekly rest Ratified by Govt.

3 45 Underground work (women) Ratified by Govt.

4 89 Night work (women) Ratified by Govt.

5 90 Night work (young person's) Provided in the Mines Act