Occupational Health and Safety

Health and safety of the employees are important aspects in an organization's smooth and effective functioning. Good health and safety environment ensures an accident-free industrial set up. Maintenance of occupational safety and health is very closely related to productivity and good employer-employee relationship. Awareness of Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) has improved in India considerably. Achieving high OH&S performance has become one of the key aspects of business activities.
Management of Occupational Health and Safety demands adoption of a structured approach for the identification of hazards, their evaluation and control of risks in the organisation. Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated an Indian Standard on OH&S management systems. It is called as the IS 18001:2000 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. This standard prescribes requirements for an OH&S Management Systems to enable an organization to formulate a policy and objectives, taking into account legislative requirements and information about significant hazards and risks, which the organization can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence, to protect its employees and others, whose health and safety may be affected by the activities of the organization. All the requirements in this standard are intended to be incorporated into any OH&S management system. This standard also provides informative guidance on the use of the specification.

Organizations interested in obtaining licence for OH&S Management System as per IS 18001 should ensure that they are operating the system according to this standard. The organization should apply on the prescribed proforma ( Form IV ) at the nearest Regional Office of BIS along with Questionnaire ( Form X ) and the prescribed application fee. The application shall be signed by the proprietor or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization or any other person authorised to sign on behalf of the organization. The name and designation of the person signing the application must be recorded legibly in a space set apart for the purpose in the application form. Each application must be accompanied by a documented Occupational Health and Safety Management System Documentation (such as OHS manual etc.)

The Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and the Directorate General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) are the two field organisations of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the area of occupational safety and health in mines, factories and ports. The Directorate General, Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Mumbai,which is an attached office of the Ministry of Labour and Employment,functions as a technical arm of the Ministry in regard to matters concerned with safety, health and welfare of workers in factories and ports/docks. Directorate General of Mines Safety is the Indian Goverment Regulatory agency for safety in mines and oil-fields. The mission of the DGMS is to continually improve safety and health standards, practices and performance in the mining industry and upstream petroleum industry.