The National and State OSH Advisory Boards
Chapter Forty-Six
Syllabus topic 3.2, "Occupational Safety, Health and working conditions"
Pages 325 to 329 of 597
In one line
A national advisory board of officials, employers, workers and experts advises the Central Government on the safety standards, and every State has its own board.
In exam wording: section 16 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 requires the Central Government to constitute the National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board to advise on standards, rules and regulations, implementation, and policy and programme issues; and section 17 requires every State Government to constitute a State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board.
Why the law has these at all
Because the Code deliberately does not contain the safety rules.
The Factories Act 1948 spelled out ventilation, lighting, latrines and machine guarding in the Act itself, and by the 1990s much of it was obsolete because amending a statute is slow. This Code instead puts the general duty in section 6, gives the Central Government power to declare standards under section 18, and then builds a body to advise on what those standards should say.
So the National Board is where the technical content of Indian safety law is actually settled. Its composition is therefore not a formality: it decides whose knowledge shapes the standards. And the composition answers that with three groups, regulators, the two sides of industry, and independent experts.
Some words this chapter uses
Ex officio means by virtue of an office held, so the member changes when the officeholder does. Advisory board recommends; it does not decide. Site appraisal committee is the body under section 83 which examines applications to set up a factory involving a hazardous process. Special invitee attends for a particular purpose without being a standing member.
Section 16(1): what the National Board is for
The Central Government shall, by notification, constitute the National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board, called the National Board, to discharge the functions conferred on it by the Code and to advise the Central Government on:
- (a) the standards, rules and regulations to be declared or framed under the Code;
- (b) implementation of the Code and of the standards, rules and regulations;
- (c) issues of policy and programme relating to occupational safety and health referred to it by the Central Government; and
- (d) any other matter under the Code referred to it by the Central Government.
Note the word "shall". Constituting the Board is a duty. And note the word "advise": clauses (c) and (d) operate only on a reference by the Central Government, so on those the Board cannot act of its own motion.
Section 16(2): the composition
Fifteen entries, and the grouping is the way to remember them.
The regulators, all ex officio:
| Clause | Member |
|---|---|
| (a) | Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Chairperson |
| (b) | Director General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes, Mumbai |
| (c) | Director General, Mines Safety, Dhanbad |
| (d) | Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur |
| (e) | Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi |
| (f) | Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi |
| (h) | Director General, Employees' State Insurance Corporation, New Delhi |
| (i) | Director General, Health Services, New Delhi |
| (o) | Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Member Secretary |
The National and State OSH Advisory Boards
The States:
- (g) Principal Secretaries dealing with labour matters of four States, by rotation as the Central Government thinks fit, ex officio.
The two sides of industry:
- (j) five representatives of employers;
- (k) five representatives of employees.
The independent voices:
- (l) a representative of a professional body associated with the matter for which standards, rules or policies are being framed;
- (m) five eminent persons connected with the field of occupational safety and health, or representatives from reputed research institutions or similar disciplines;
- (n) special invitees from a State Government or Union territory, for inputs on specific matters or on an industry or sector predominant in that State or Union territory.
Two features worth naming in an answer. The Board is tripartite plus expert: Government, employers, workers and independent professionals and researchers. And the presence of the Central Pollution Control Board and the Director General of Health Services shows that occupational safety is treated as continuous with environmental and public health rather than separate from them.
Section 16(3) to (6): term, staff, committees and consultation
Section 16(3), term. The members in clauses (g), (j), (k), (l) and (m), that is the State Principal Secretaries, the employers, the employees, the professional body and the eminent persons, hold office for three years, and the procedure for their nomination and the discharge of their functions is prescribed by the Central Government.
The ex officio members have no term. They serve while they hold the office.
Section 16(4), staff. The Central Government may, in consultation with the National Board, determine the number, nature and categories of officers and employees to assist it, on prescribed terms.
Section 16(5), committees. The Central Government may constitute as many technical committees or advisory committees as it thinks fit, of prescribed numbers and qualifications, to assist the Board.
Section 16(6), consulting the States. The National Board shall consult the State Governments whose Principal Secretaries are members under clause (g); and on specific issues relating to plantation, factories and like other issues, the State Government concerned may be invited as a special invitee for its inputs.
Section 17: the State Board
Section 17(1). The State Government shall constitute a State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board, to advise it on such matters arising out of the administration of the Code as may be referred to it by the State Government.
The National and State OSH Advisory Boards
Section 17(2). Its constitution, procedure and other matters are prescribed by the State Government.
Section 17(3). The State Government may constitute technical committees or advisory committees of the State Advisory Board, including site appraisal committees, of prescribed numbers and qualifications, to assist the State Government or the State Advisory Board in their functions within their jurisdictions.
Compare the two sections and the contrast is the answer to a standard question. The National Board's composition is set out in the Code itself, in fifteen clauses. The State Board's composition is left entirely to State rules. And the National Board advises on four listed matters including standards; the State Board advises only on what the State Government refers to it.
Note the mention of site appraisal committees in section 17(3). Those are the committees under section 83 which examine applications to establish a factory involving a hazardous process, and they are taken in [Hazardous Processes and Dangerous Operations].
A worked example
The Central Government proposes to declare a new standard on exposure to a solvent used in shoe manufacture.
Who advises on it? The National Board, under section 16(1)(a), which advises on the standards, rules and regulations to be declared or framed under the Code.
Who sits on it? The Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment in the chair; the Directors General of the Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes, of Mines Safety and of Health Services; the Chief Controller of Explosives; the Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board; the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central); the Director General of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation; four State Principal Secretaries by rotation; five employers' and five employees' representatives; a professional body representative; five eminent persons or research institution representatives; special invitees from States; and a Joint Secretary as Member Secretary.
Shoe manufacture is concentrated in one State. The Board shall consult the State Governments whose Principal Secretaries are members, and the State concerned may be invited as a special invitee for its inputs: section 16(6).
The Board needs technical work on exposure limits. The Central Government may constitute a technical committee to assist it: section 16(5).
How long do the employers' and employees' representatives serve? Three years: section 16(3).
And the Director General of Mines Safety? He is ex officio and has no term; he sits while he holds the post.
Once the standard is declared, may a State change it? Under section 18(4), a State Government may, with the prior approval of the Central Government, amend the standards for establishments for which it is the appropriate Government situated in that State.
The National and State OSH Advisory Boards
A company wants to set up a factory using a hazardous process in Maharashtra. That goes to a site appraisal committee, which the State Government may constitute under section 17(3) as a committee of the State Advisory Board, and whose function is in section 83.
What this does NOT mean
The National Board does not make the standards. It advises; the Central Government declares them under section 18(1).
It cannot take up policy issues on its own. Clauses (c) and (d) of section 16(1) operate on matters referred to it by the Central Government.
The State Board is not a smaller copy of the National Board. Its composition and procedure are entirely a matter for State rules, and it advises only on what the State refers.
Not every member has a three year term. Section 16(3) applies only to clauses (g), (j), (k), (l) and (m); the rest are ex officio.
Limits and criticism
The State Board's composition is not in the Code at all. Section 17(2) leaves constitution and procedure to State rules, so there is no statutory guarantee of worker or employer representation on it.
The State Board advises only on references. Unlike the National Board, which advises on standards as a listed function, the State Board's role is entirely reactive.
Employers and workers have five members each on a Board of about forty, so the tripartite element is real but small.
Nothing obliges the Central Government to accept the Board's advice, and section 18(1) confers the power to declare standards on the Government alone.
Quick revision
- Section 16(1): the Central Government shall constitute the National Board to advise on (a) standards, rules and regulations; (b) implementation; (c) policy and programme issues referred to it; (d) any other referred matter.
- Section 16(2), composition: Secretary, Labour and Employment as Chairperson; Directors General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (Mumbai), Mines Safety (Dhanbad), Employees' State Insurance Corporation and Health Services; Chief Controller of Explosives (Nagpur); Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board; Chief Labour Commissioner (Central); four State Principal Secretaries by rotation; five employers; five employees; a professional body representative; five eminent persons or research institution representatives; special invitees from States and Union territories; Joint Secretary as Member Secretary.
- Section 16(3): three year term for clauses (g), (j), (k), (l) and (m) only.
- Section 16(4) to (6): staff determined in consultation with the Board; technical and advisory committees; the Board shall consult the member States and may invite a State as a special invitee on plantation, factory and like issues.
- Section 17: every State Government shall constitute a State Advisory Board, advising on matters referred to it; its constitution and procedure are prescribed by the State; it may have technical, advisory and site appraisal committees.
The National and State OSH Advisory Boards
Test yourself
1. What does the National Board advise on? The standards, rules and regulations to be declared or framed under the Code; the implementation of the Code and of those standards, rules and regulations; issues of policy and programme relating to occupational safety and health referred to it by the Central Government; and any other matter under the Code referred to it by that Government: section 16(1).
2. Who chairs the National Board, and who is its Member Secretary? The Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, ex officio, is the Chairperson; the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, ex officio, is the Member Secretary: section 16(2)(a) and (o).
3. How many representatives of employers and of employees sit on the National Board, and for how long? Five of each, and their term is three years: section 16(2)(j) and (k) with section 16(3).
4. How does the State Advisory Board differ from the National Board? The National Board's composition is set out in section 16(2) and it advises on four listed matters including the standards. The State Advisory Board is constituted under section 17(1) to advise on such matters as the State Government refers to it, and its constitution, procedure and other matters are left entirely to be prescribed by the State Government under section 17(2).
5. Which committees may a State Government constitute under section 17(3)? Technical committees or advisory committees of the State Advisory Board, including site appraisal committees, of such number of members and qualifications as may be prescribed, to assist the State Government or the State Advisory Board within their jurisdictions.
6. Does the National Board declare the safety standards? No. It advises. The power to declare standards on occupational safety and health is conferred on the Central Government by section 18(1).
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself for the same subject.