To ensure the safety, health and welfare of workers in factories employing 40 or more people, the government is considering setting up a regulator with punitive powers by amending the Factories Act, 1948.
The proposed regulator’s mandate would include designing a web-enabled interactive service platform, preparing a standard format for self-certified declaration from the factory owner, designing forms for safety auditors and even surprise inspection of big and risky projects, according to official sources.
The PM Narendra Modi-led government had introduced the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014, in the Lok Sabha on August 7 last year, but the standing committee on labour proposed various amendments and asked the labour ministry to hold tripartite consultations before finalising the amendments.
There have been a couple of meetings with stakeholders. The proposal to set up a regulator would be discussed in the next tripartite meeting scheduled on August 19.
“The proposed regulator would not come in the way of ease of doing business; it is aimed at ensuring safety and health of workers,” said a labour ministry official.
According to the proposal, the regulator shall improve the rules for better safety practices, prepare concept notes or consultation papers based on contemporary practice and scientific evidence, disclose them in public, hold open discussion with stakeholders and professionals and finally notify them.
It would also frame rules prescribing process, methods and procedure to ensure safety, protect health, prevent occupational diseases, promote health, hygiene and other conveniences of the work place as deemed fit under the power delegated to it under this Act. This include duties and obligations of the occupier, persons with ultimate control, competent persons and chief inspector of factories for carrying out the safety audit.
The proposed regulator shall notify hazardous process, hazardous substance, either by name or by features or properties or in any combination, deemed fit and prescribe standard operating procedure for handling of such substance and process to secure to workers safety during work.
The regulator shall make rules specifying standards of health and safety to be followed in hazardous process, prohibiting or restricting employment of young persons, pregnant women. It would also make rules prohibiting, restricting or controlling the use of hazardous substance.
If the regulator is of the opinion that any manufacturing process or operation carried on in a factory exposes any person to a serious risk of bodily injury, poisoning or vulnerability to incidence or disease, it may notify or make rules applicable to any factory or class or description of factories in which the manufacturing process is carried on specifying the manufacturing process or operation and declaring it to be dangerous.