OSH Code excludes residential construction under ₹50 lakh from safety rules

It matters to citizens as it defines the legal framework for worker protections, including specific provisions for contract labor and government offices.

Who it concerns: The document concerns the Central and State Governments, establishments (including factories, mines, and construction sites), principal employers, contractors, and workers (including contract labor and audio-visual workers).

What the document says

• The Act received the assent of the President on 28th September, 2020, and was published in the Gazette of India on 29th September, 2020.
• The Code does not apply to the offices of the Central or State Government or ships of war, except for contract labor employed through a contractor where the Government is the principal employer.
• The definition of 'contract labour' includes workers hired by or through a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, and includes inter-State migrant workers.
• The definition of 'contract labour' excludes workers regularly employed by a contractor for the contractor's own establishment activities who receive periodical pay increments, social security, and welfare benefits.
• The definition of 'core activity of an establishment' excludes support services such as sanitation, security, canteen services, loading/unloading, and housekeeping, even if they are essential to the establishment's operations.
• The 'appropriate Government' for Central Public Sector Undertakings remains the Central Government even if the Central Government's equity holding reduces to less than fifty per cent after the Code's commencement.

Also in the document

• The document explicitly clarifies that State Governments are the appropriate authority for occupational safety in factories situated within their respective states.
• The definition of 'building or other construction work' excludes work related to factories or mines, as well as residential construction for own purposes costing less than fifty lakhs rupees (or a notified higher amount) employing a notified number of workers.