Hazardous Processes: Chapter IVA of the Factories Act and the OSH Code
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Syllabus topic 4, "Laws on Hazardous Substance"
Pages 538 to 545 of 913
In one line
Bhopal produced a chapter in the Factories Act 1948 whose best provision lets a frightened worker force an inspector to decide, and since 21 November 2025 that chapter lives on as sections 83 to 89 of the OSH Code 2020.
In the wording a student can write in an examination: Chapter IVA of the Factories Act 1948, sections 41A to 41H, inserted by the Factories (Amendment) Act 1987 after the Bhopal gas leak, provided for Site Appraisal Committees, compulsory disclosure of information by the occupier, his specific responsibilities, an Inquiry Committee, emergency standards, permissible limits of exposure, a Safety Committee and the right of workers to warn about imminent danger; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020, brought into force on 21 November 2025, repealed the Factories Act by section 143 and carries the same scheme in section 83 on site appraisal committees, section 84 on compulsory disclosure, section 85 on the occupier's responsibilities, section 86 on inquiry by the National Board, section 87 on emergency standards, section 88 on exposure limits and section 89 on the right to warn, with the Safety Committee in section 22.
Why the chapter moved, and what survives the move
The repeal. Section 143(1) of the Code repealed the Factories Act 1948, with twelve other labour statutes, from the date the Code was brought into force. Section 143(2) deems every inspector appointed under the old Acts to be appointed under the Code, and section 143(3) provides that anything done under the repealed Acts, including any rule, notification, order or direction, is deemed done under the corresponding provision of the Code and remains in force, so far as it is not contrary to the Code, until the Central Government repeals it. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act 1897 applies as well.
What that means for an answer. An approval, an on-site emergency plan or a safety policy made under Chapter IVA did not lapse on 21 November 2025. But the law to state is the Code, and a question set on Chapter IVA, as older papers set it, should be answered by giving each old section with the section of the Code that now does its work.
| Subject | Factories Act 1948, until 21 November 2025 | OSH Code 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Hazardous process defined | section 2(cb) | section 2(1)(za) |
| Site appraisal | section 41A, a committee described in the Act, ninety days | section 83, a committee constituted by the appropriate Government, thirty days |
| Disclosure and emergency plan | section 41B | section 84 |
| Occupier's responsibilities | section 41C | section 85 |
| Inquiry into an extraordinary situation | section 41D, an Inquiry Committee | section 86, the National Board |
| Emergency standards | section 41E | section 87 |
| Exposure limits | section 41F, the Second Schedule | section 88, values prescribed by the State Government |
| Safety Committee | section 41G | section 22 |
| Right to warn | section 41H | section 89 |
| Penalty | section 96A, up to seven years, ten if continued | no counterpart; see below |
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