I have been asked to visit India to look at the health and safety in a number of offices we have there.

I believe that the legislation on Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) in India is broadly divided into three; statute for safety at workplaces, statute for safety of substances and statute for safety of activities. With health and safety statutes for regulating OHS of persons at work currently at present only existing in four sectors; mining, factories, ports and construction.

Can anyone please help me out by directing me to where I maybe able to find out more information regarding the OHS requirements in an office environment?

I would also be interested to find out how other Companies with offices in India manage OHS over there.

Regards

Leon

The link to the ILO-Safework LEGOSH Database for India is at:-
http://www.ilo.org/legac...cis/legosh/ind/index.htm

The primary source of information is the Directorate General, Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) -link at:-
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/statutes5.htm

Unfortunately, it is refers to only factories, not office establishments!

As far as I am aware, India does NOT have the equivalent of HASAWA that covers all workplaces. There was a policy document to do it, but it has not been implemented so far!
http://www.dgfasli.nic.in/npolicy/OSH-Policy.pdf

The most likely relevant one is likely to be the Shops And Establishments Act. However, India has a federal government structure and each state has its own rules!

The objectives of the Shops And Establishments Act is to:-
-To provide statutory and rights to employees and employers in the unorganised sector of employment, i.e., shops and establishments.

Scope And Coverage
- A state legislation; each state has to famed its own rules for the Act.
- Applicable to all persons employed in an establishments with or without wages, except the members of the employer's family.
- State government can exempt, either permanently or for a specified period, any establishments from all or any provisions of this Act.

Main Provisions
- Compulsory registration of shop/establishment within thirty days of commencement of work.
- Communications of closure of the establishment within 15 days from the closing of the establishment.
- Lays down the hours of work per day and week.
- Lays down guidelines for spread-over, rest interval, opening and closing hours, closed days, national and religious holidays, overtime work.
- Rules for employment of children, young persons and women
- Rules for annual leave, maternity leave, sickness and casual leave, etc.
- Rules for employment and termination of service.
- Maintenance of registers and records and display of notices.
- Obligations of employers.
- Obligations of employees.
When To Consult And Refer
- At the time of start of an enterprise.
- When framing personnel policies and rules

P.S. I do not work in India, but have some previous (significant!) experience, all be it in chemicals manufacturing from 1982 to 1991 ,so it was a long time ago.
http://www.gsfclimited.com/

However, I try to keep up to date !

Alternatively, you may contact one of the committee members of the IOSH International Groups :-
http://www.iosh.co.uk/gr...group/the_committee.aspx
http://www.iosh.co.uk/gr...international_group.aspx

The Corporate Health and Safety Policy objectives and arrangements of your parent Organisation should be applied irrespective of location. Local law (or lack of it) should be of lesser concern, you should be confident that the proper application of your parent standards will secure the health, safety and welfare of all, wherever they may be?

Leon, my previous employer had several manufacturing plants and commercial offices in India (Puducheri, Irungattukottai and Pallavaram) and the way we managed H&S was to use the management system we had developed for the UK (OHSAS 18001) and then implement in India as good practice. The mangement system was then audited and accredited to OHSAS 18001 soon after. Of course where the law in India superseded UK legislation or company standards then that took precedent.