Object and Salient Features of the OSH Code

So: the entire OSH Code is in force from 21 November 2025. Modules III and IV are current law without qualification, and there is no commencement question to answer about any section of them.

Section 1: title, commencement and where the Code does not apply

Section 1(1). The Code may be called the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020.

Section 1(2). It comes into force on such date as the Central Government appoints by notification, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions. As above, one date was appointed for all of it.

Section 1(3), the exclusions. This has no counterpart in the Social Security Code and it is easy to miss. The Code shall not apply to:

• offices of the Central Government;
• offices of the State Government; and
• any ship of war of any nationality.

The proviso pulls a large group straight back in. The Code shall apply in the case of contract labour employed through a contractor in the offices of the Central Government or of a State Government, where the Government is the principal employer.

So a Government department is outside the Code for its own staff and inside it for the contract labour cleaning, guarding and catering in the same building. Given how much Government work is now done through contractors, the proviso is wider in practice than the exclusion.

Notice also what section 1 does not contain. There is no extent clause. The Social Security Code says in section 1(2) that it extends to the whole of India; this Code says nothing of the kind and instead states exclusions.

Section 143: what the Code repealed

Section 143(1) provides that the following enactments stand repealed on and from the dates the notification under section 1(2) is issued, that is from 21 November 2025:

Thirteen Acts. With the nine repealed by the Social Security Code that is twenty-two, and it is the single most useful fact a student can carry into this paper: almost every set of notes available on this subject is written on one of those twenty-two statutes.

Section 143(2), officers continue. Every Chief Inspector, Additional Chief Inspector, Joint Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector, Inspector and every other officer appointed under the repealed enactments is deemed to have been appointed under this Code for the corresponding purposes.

Section 143(3), things done continue. Notwithstanding the repeal, anything done or action taken under the repealed enactments, including any rule, regulation, bye-law, notification, nomination, appointment, order or direction, is deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Code and remains in force to the extent it is not contrary to the Code, until repealed by the Central Government.

Section 143(4). Without prejudice to sub-section (2), section 6 of the General Clauses Act 1897 applies to the repeal.

Compare this with section 164(2) of the Social Security Code. That one had a one year limit on the savings for the named schemes. Section 143(3) here has no time limit: the old subordinate instruments continue until the Central Government repeals them.

The salient features

1. One Code for thirteen Acts. 143 sections in fourteen Chapters and three Schedules.

2. Industry specific law kept as a Part, not as separate Acts. Chapter XI, sections 45 to 93, holds contract labour, inter-State migrant workers, audio-visual workers, mines, beedi and cigar workers, building workers, factories and plantations. That Chapter alone is forty-nine sections and is the whole of Module IV.

3. Two classes of protected person, worker and employee. The Social Security Code has only "employee". This Code distinguishes worker, section 2(1)(zzl), from employee, section 2(1)(t), and the difference decides who gets hours, leave and overtime. See [Definitions under the OSH Code].

4. Contract labour in core activities prohibited by the statute itself. Section 57(1) prohibits it outright, subject to three provisos, where the Contract Labour Act 1970 required a notification before any prohibition took effect. This is the largest single change in the Code and it is worked in [Prohibition of Contract Labour in Core Activities].

5. Women may work in all establishments and at night. Section 43 permits a woman to be employed in all establishments for all types of work, and before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. with her consent and with the safety and holiday conditions the appropriate Government requires. See [Employment of Women under the OSH Code].

6. One registration, one licence, one set of records. Registration under section 3, a common licence under section 119, records and returns under section 33.

7. Inspector-cum-Facilitator in place of the Inspector, with an advisory function and a web based inspection scheme, under sections 34 and 35.

8. A statutory duty to issue an appointment letter. Section 6(1)(f) requires the employer to issue one to every employee, which no repealed Act required.

9. Free annual health examination. Section 6(1)(c) requires the employer to provide one, free of charge, to such employees, of such age and in such manner as the appropriate Government prescribes.

10. A worker's right to information and to warn. Section 14 gives an employee the right to obtain information about health and safety, and section 89 gives workers the right to warn about imminent danger.

How the Code is arranged

MU's syllabus splits this Code across two modules, and the split falls between Chapter X and Chapter XI. Module III is Chapters I to X. Module IV is Chapter XI onwards.

A worked example

Kavya sets up a plastics unit with twenty-five workers, using powered machines, and engages a contractor to run its canteen and security.

Is the Code in force? Yes, in its entirety, from 21 November 2025 by S.O. 5321(E). Unlike the Social Security Code there are no partly commenced provisions to check.

Does the Code apply to her? Yes. Section 1(3) excludes only offices of the Central and State Governments and ships of war.

Is her unit an establishment? Yes. Section 2(1)(v)(i) covers a place where any industry, trade, business, manufacturing or occupation is carried on in which ten or more workers are employed.

Is it a factory? Here is the trap. Under the OSH Code, section 2(1)(w)(i), a factory needs twenty or more workers with the aid of power. She has twenty-five, so yes under this Code. Under the Social Security Code, section 2(32)(a), the threshold is ten, so she was a factory there too but at a much lower number. Had she employed fifteen, she would have been a factory for Modules I and II and not a factory for Modules III and IV.

May she rely on the Factories Act 1948? No. It is repealed by section 143(1)(a) with effect from 21 November 2025. Her obligations are in this Code.

An inspector appointed under the Factories Act calls on her. He is deemed to have been appointed under this Code by section 143(2), and his powers are those in section 35.

A rule made under the Factories Act still governs a machine guard. Under section 143(3) it is deemed made under the corresponding provision of this Code and continues so far as it is not contrary to the Code, until the Central Government repeals it. There is no one year limit here, unlike section 164(2)(b) of the Social Security Code.

Now a Government office in the same city engages the same contractor for its cleaning. The office itself is outside the Code by section 1(3). But by the proviso, the Code applies to the contract labour employed through the contractor there, the Government being the principal employer.

What this does NOT mean

This is not the same Code as Modules I and II. Thresholds, definitions and the offences chapter are all different.

The Code did not commence in stages. S.O. 5321(E) brought the whole of it into force on one date.

Section 1(3) does not exempt Government work generally. The proviso brings contract labour in Government offices inside the Code.

Section 143(3)'s savings do not revive the repealed Acts. They keep subordinate instruments operating until the Central Government repeals them.

Chapter XI is not a separate Act. It is a Part of this Code, and the general Chapters apply to it except where it says otherwise.

Limits and criticism

The thresholds rose. A factory needed ten workers with power under the Factories Act 1948 and needs twenty here; forty without power where the old Act required twenty. A large number of small units which were regulated are now outside the definition, though they may still be establishments under section 2(1)(v).

Section 143(3) has no sunset. Old rules, regulations and bye-laws continue indefinitely until the Central Government repeals them, which leaves the practical content of safety law in instruments made under statutes that no longer exist.

Section 1(3) excludes Government offices from a safety statute, and the proviso protects the contract labour there but not the Government's own staff.

The State proviso to the factory definition preserves different State numbers until each legislature amends them, so "factory" may mean different things in different States for some time.

Quick revision

• Act 37 of 2020. Assent 28 September 2020. Whole Code in force 21 November 2025 by S.O. 5321(E), a single sentence with no exceptions, unlike S.O. 5319(E) for the other Code.
• Section 1(3): does not apply to offices of the Central or State Government or any ship of war; but does apply to contract labour through a contractor in those offices where the Government is the principal employer. No extent clause.
• Section 143(1): thirteen Acts repealed, including the Factories Act 1948, Mines Act 1952, Plantations Labour Act 1951, Contract Labour Act 1970, Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979, Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966 and the Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996.
• Section 143(2): existing inspectors deemed appointed under the Code. Section 143(3): things done continue until the Central Government repeals them, with no time limit. Section 143(4): section 6 of the General Clauses Act 1897 applies.
• 143 sections, 14 Chapters, 3 Schedules. Module III is Chapters I to X; Module IV is Chapter XI onwards.
• Salient features: one Code for thirteen Acts; industry law kept as Chapter XI; worker and employee as two classes; core activity contract labour prohibited by the statute; women in all establishments and at night with consent; common licence and one set of records; Inspector-cum-Facilitator; appointment letter; free annual health examination; right to information and to warn.

Test yourself

1. When did the OSH Code come into force, and how does that differ from the Social Security Code? On 21 November 2025, by S.O. 5321(E), which appointed that date for the provisions of the Code as a whole, with no exceptions and no corrigendum. The Code on Social Security was commenced in pieces by S.O. 5319(E) across three dates, with a corrigendum of 19 December 2025 needed to clarify one of them.

2. To whom does the OSH Code not apply, and what is the exception? It does not apply to offices of the Central Government, offices of the State Government, or any ship of war of any nationality: section 1(3). By the proviso it does apply to contract labour employed through a contractor in those Government offices, where the Government is the principal employer.

3. Name five Acts repealed by section 143. Any five of: Factories Act 1948; Plantations Labour Act 1951; Mines Act 1952; Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees Act 1955; Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act 1958; Motor Transport Workers Act 1961; Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966; Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970; Sales Promotion Employees Act 1976; Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979; Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers Act 1981; Dock Workers Act 1986; Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996.

4. A unit has fifteen workers and uses power. Is it a factory? Under the Social Security Code, yes: section 2(32)(a) requires ten or more employees with the aid of power. Under the OSH Code, no: section 2(1)(w)(i) requires twenty or more workers with the aid of power. The same word carries different numbers in the two Codes, and both are on this syllabus.

5. A rule made under the Mines Act 1952 is still in the rule book. Is it good law? Yes, for the time being. Section 143(3) deems anything done under a repealed enactment, including a rule, to have been done under the corresponding provision of this Code, and keeps it in force to the extent it is not contrary to the Code, until it is repealed by the Central Government. Unlike section 164(2)(b) of the Social Security Code, no time limit is attached.

6. Give four salient features of the Code. Any four of: consolidation of thirteen Acts into one; industry specific law retained as Chapter XI rather than as separate statutes; the distinction between worker and employee; statutory prohibition of contract labour in core activities under section 57; employment of women in all establishments and at night with consent under section 43; a single registration and common licence; the Inspector-cum-Facilitator with an advisory role; the duty to issue an appointment letter under section 6(1)(f); a free annual health examination under section 6(1)(c); and the employee's right to information under section 14 and the right to warn of imminent danger under section 89.