Miscellaneous

When any offence is committed under this Code involving an issue of a certain age of a person and such person is in the opinion of the court prima facie under such age, the burden shall be on the accused to prove that such person is not under such age.

The medical authority prescribed by the Central Government shall, while examining a worker for issuing the certificate of age for the purposes of this Code, take into account the Aadhaar card of the worker, and in the absence thereof, the date of birth certificate from school or the matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned examination Board of the worker, if available, and in the absence thereof, the birth certificate of the worker given by a corporation or a municipal authority or a Panchayat, and only in the absence of any of the methods specified in this sub-section, the age shall be determined by such medical authority through an ossification test or any other latest medical age determination test.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, any person desirous of obtaining common licence in respect of a factory, industrial premises for beedi and cigar work and for engaging contract workers or any combination thereof or single licence for any one of them under this Code shall make an application electronically or otherwise to such authority as may be designated, by notification, by the appropriate Government.

The application under sub-section (1),—

On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the authority referred to in that sub-section shall take such actions in such manner and make such inquiry as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

Where the authority referred to in sub-section (1) is satisfied that the common licence may be issued in respect of a factory, industrial premises for beedi and cigar work and for engaging contract workers or any combination thereof or single licence for any one of them under this Code, such authority shall issue a licence electronically within forty-five days of the receipt of application failing which the licence shall be deemed to be issued and shall be auto generated and the responsibility of such failure shall be on such authority:

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, any licence in respect of a factory, industrial premises for beedi and cigar work and for engaging contract labour has been obtained under any Central labour law before the commencement of this Code, in respect of any establishment shall be deemed to have been obtained under the provisions of this Code and shall be valid for the period for which it was issued and shall have to be obtained afresh after its expiration.

Any person aggrieved by an order passed under this section by the authority referred to in sub-section (1) may file, within thirty days from the date of the order, an appeal in such form, accompanied with such fee to such appellate authority as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government and the appeal shall be disposed of electronically within thirty days of the filing of the appeal.

The provisions of this Code shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force or in the terms of any award, agreement or contract of service whether made before or after the commencement of this Code:

Nothing contained in this Code shall be construed as precluding any employee from entering into an agreement with an employer for granting him rights or privileges in respect of any matter which are more favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under this Code.

The appropriate Government may, in the event of the occurrence of an accident in an establishment which has caused or had the potentiality to cause serious danger to employees and other persons within, and in the vicinity of the workplace or whether immediate or delayed, or any occupational disease as specified in the Third Schedule, which has been or is suspected to have been contracted, in epidemic proportions, appoint one or more persons possessing legal or special knowledge to act as assessors or competent persons in such inquiry in order to inquire into the causes of the accident and disease, fix responsibilities and suggest a plan of action for the future to prevent such accidents or diseases and submit the report to the appropriate Government.

The appropriate Government may direct a Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or any other officer under the control of the Government concerned or appoint a committee to undertake a survey in such manner as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government on the situation relating to safety or health at work at any workplace or class of workplaces or into the effect of work activity on the health of the employees and other persons within and in the vicinity of the workplace.

The officer directed or committee appointed, under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), to hold an inquiry, shall have the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for the purposes of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents and material objects, and may also so far as may be necessary for the purposes of the inquiry, exercise such powers of an Inspector-cum-Facilitator under this Code as may be necessary.

The Central Government may make rules for regulating the procedure of inquiry and survey and other related matters under this section.

No person shall in respect of the establishment, disclose any information relating to any manufacturing or commercial business or any working process which may come to his knowledge in the course of his official duties.

Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to any disclosure of information made with the previous consent in writing of the owner of the business or process or for the purposes of any legal proceeding (including adjudication or arbitration), pursuant to any of the relevant statutory provisions or of any criminal proceeding under this Code which may be taken, whether pursuant to any of the relevant statutory provisions or otherwise, or for the purposes of any report of any such proceedings.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made thereunder.

No prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, any Board or committees constituted under this Code or any member of such Board or any officer or employee of the Government or the Board or any other person authorised by the Government or any Board or committee, for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made or issued thereunder.

The appropriate Government may, by notification and subject to such conditions and restrictions, if any, and for such period or periods as may be specified in the notification, direct that all or any of the provisions of this Code or the rules or the regulations made thereunder shall not apply to or in relation to any establishment or class of establishments.

Without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (1), where the State Government is satisfied in the public interest that it is necessary to create more economic activities and employment opportunities, it may, by notification, exempt, subject to such conditions as it may think fit, any new factory or class or description of new factories from all or any of the provisions of this Code for such period from the date on which such commercial production starts, as may be specified in the notification:

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Code, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Code, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:

Every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each House of Parliament.

The appropriate Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication and by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Code.

In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

The Central Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication and by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Code.

In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

The State Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication and by notification, make rules for the carrying out the provisions of this Code.

In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

The Central Government may, by notification and in consultation with the State Government, make rules for the purposes of bringing uniformity, throughout the country, in occupational safety, health or such other matters as it considers necessary in respect of factories.

for specifying the qualifications required for appointment as Inspector-cum-Facilitator;

for specifying and regulating the duties and powers of the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator and of Inspector-cum-Facilitators in regard to the inspection of mines under this Code;

for specifying the duties of owners, agents and managers of mines and of persons acting under them, and for specifying the qualifications (including age) of agents and managers of mines and of persons acting under them;

for requiring facilities to be provided for enabling managers of mines and other persons acting under them to efficiently discharge their duties;

for regulating the manner of ascertaining, by examination or otherwise, the qualifications of managers of mines and persons acting under them, and the granting and renewal of certificates of competency;

for fixing the fees, if any, to be paid in respect of such examinations and of the grant and renewal of such certificates;

for determining the circumstances in which and the conditions subject to which it shall be lawful for more mines than one to be under a single manager, or for any mines to be under a manager not having the specified qualifications;

for providing for inquiries to be made under this Code, including any inquiry relating to misconduct or incompetence on the part of any person holding a certificate under this Code and for the suspension or cancellation of any such certificate and for providing, wherever necessary, that the person appointed to hold an inquiry shall have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for the purpose of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents and material objects;

for regulating, subject to the provisions of the Indian Explosives Act, 1884, and of any rules made thereunder, the storage, conveyance and use of explosives;

for prohibiting, restricting or regulating the employment of women in mines or in any class of mines or on particular kinds of labour which are attended by danger to the life, safety or health of such persons and for limiting the weight of any single load that may be carried by any such person;

for providing for the safety of the persons employed in a mine, their means of entrance there into and exit therefrom, the number of shafts or outlets to be furnished, and the fencing of shafts, pits, outlets, pathways and subsidences;

for prohibiting the employment in a mine either as manager or in any other specified capacity of any person except persons paid by the owner of the mine and directly answerable to the owner or manager of the mine;

for providing for the safety of the roads and working places in mines, including the siting, maintenance and extraction or reduction of pillars or blocks of minerals and the maintenance of sufficient barriers between mine and mine;

for the inspection of workings and sealed off fire- areas in a mine, and for the restriction of workings in the vicinity of the sea or any lake or river or any other body of surface water, whether natural or artificial, or of any public road or building, and for requiring due precaution to be taken against the irruption or inrush of water or other liquid matter into, outbreak of fire in or premature collapse of, any workings;

for providing for the ventilation of mines and the action to be taken in respect of dust, fire, and inflammable and noxious gases, including precautions against spontaneous combustion, underground fire and coal dust;

for regulating, subject to the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, and of any rules made thereunder, the generation, storage, transformation, transmission and use of electricity in mines and for providing for the care and the regulation of the use of all electrical apparatus and electrical cables in mines and of all other machinery and plant therein;

"for regulating the use of machinery in mines, for providing for the safety of persons employed on or near such machinery and on haulage roads and for restricting the use of certain classes of locomotives underground;

for providing for proper lighting of mines and regulating the use of safety lamps therein and for the search of persons entering a mine in which safety lamps are in use;

for providing against explosions or ignitions of inflammable gas or dust or irruptions of or accumulations of water in mines and against danger arising therefrom and for prohibiting, restricting or regulating the extraction of minerals in circumstances likely to result in the premature collapse of workings or to result in or to aggravate the collapse of workings or irruptions of water or ignitions in mines;

for specifying type of accidents for the purposes of notice under section 10 and for specifying the notices of accidents and dangerous occurrences, and the notices, reports and returns of mineral output, persons employed and other matters provided for by regulations, to be furnished by owners, agents and managers of mines, and for specifying the forms of such notices, returns and reports, the persons and authorities to whom they are to be furnished, the particulars to be contained in them, and the time within which they are to be submitted;

for requiring owners, agents and managers of mines to have fixed boundaries for the mines, for specifying the plans and sections and field notes connected therewith to be kept by them and the manner and places in which such plans, sections and field notes are to be kept for purposes of record and for the submission of copies thereof to the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator, and for requiring the making of fresh surveys and plans by them, and in the event of non-compliance, for having the survey made and plans prepared through any other agency and for the recovery of expenses thereof in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue;

for regulating the procedure on the occurrence of accidents or accidental explosions or ignitions in or about, mines; for dealing effectively with the situation;

for specifying the form of, and the particulars to be contained in, the notice to be given by the owner, agent or manager of a mine under section 5;

for specifying the notice to be given by the owner, agent or manager of a mine before mining operations are commenced at or extended to any point within forty-five meters of any railway subject to the provisions of the Indian Railways Act, 1989 or of any public roads or other works as the case may be, which are maintained by the Government or any local authority;

for the protection from injury, in respect of any mine when the workings are discontinued, of property vested in the Government or any local authority or railway company as defined in the Indian Railways Act, 1989;

for requiring protective works to be constructed by the owner, agent or manager of a mine before the mine is closed, and in the event of non-compliance, for getting such works executed by any other agency and for recovering the expenses thereof from such owner in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue;

for requiring the fencing of any mine or part of a mine or any quarry, incline, shaft, pit or outlet, whether the same is being worked or not, or any dangerous or prohibited area, subsidence, haulage, tramline or pathway, where such fencing is necessary for the protection of the public;

for specifying the number of officials to be appointed;

for specifying the qualifications of the officials to be appointed;

for specifying the qualifications and experience of the agents;

for specifying the period during which the agent shall be resident in India;

for specifying duties and responsibilities of suppliers, designers, importer and contractors for safety in mines;

for requiring the owners, agents and managers of mines to formulate, maintain and enforce safety management plan in their mines;

for requiring the managers of mines to formulate and implement codes of practice or standard operating procedure in respect of any machinery or operation used in the mines;

for providing for the safety in opencast mines and associated operations and machineries used therein;

for regulating the extraction of methane from working or abandoned coal mines or from virgin coal seam;

for specifying the forms of returns which shall be filed by the establishments or the class of establishments under this Code;

for the general requirement relating to the construction, equipping and maintenance for the safety of working places on shore, ship, dock, structure and other places at which any dock work is carried on;

for the safety of any regular approaches over a dock, wharf, quay or other places which dock workers have to use for going for work and for fencing of such places and projects;

for the efficient lighting of all areas of dock, ship, any other vessel, dock structure or working places where any dock work is carried on and of all approaches to such places to which dock workers are required to go in the course of their employment;

providing and maintaining adequate ventilation and suitable temperature in every building or an enclosure on ship where dock workers are employed;

providing for the fire and explosion prevention and protection;

providing for safe means of access to ships, holds, stagings, equipment, lifting appliances and other working places;

providing for the safety of workers engaged in the opening and closing of hatches, protection of ways and other openings in the docks which may be dangerous to them;

providing for the safety of workers on docks from the risk of falling overboard being struck by cargo during loading or unloading operations;

providing for the construction, maintenance and use of lifting and other cargo handling appliances and services, such as, pallets containing or supporting loads and provision of safety appliances on them, if necessary;

providing for the safety of workers employed in freight container terminals or other terminals for handling unitised cargo;

providing for the fencing of machinery, live electrical conductors, steam pipes and hazardous openings;

providing for the construction, maintenance and use of staging;

providing for the rigging and use of ship's derricks;

providing for the testing, examination, inspection and certification as appropriate of loose gears including chains and ropes and of slings and other lifting devices used in the dock work;

providing for the precautions to be taken to facilitate escape of workers when employed in a hold, bin, hopper or the like or between decks of a hold while handling coal or other bulk cargo;

providing for the measures to be taken in order to prevent dangerous methods of working in the stacking, unstacking, stowing and unstowing of cargo or handling in connection therewith;

providing for the handling of dangerous substances and working in dangerous or harmful environments and the precautions to be taken in connection with such handling;

providing for the work in connection with cleaning, chipping, painting, operations and precautions to be taken in connection with such work;

providing for the employment of persons for handling cargo, handling appliances, power operated hatch covers or other power operated ship's equipment, such as, door in the hull of a ship, ramp, retraceable car deck or similar equipment or to give signals to the drivers of such machinery;

providing for the transport of dock workers;

providing for the precautions to be taken to protect dock workers against harmful effects of excessive noise, vibrations and air pollution at the workplace;

providing for protective equipment or protective clothing;

providing for the sanitary, washing and welfare facilities;

providing for—

providing for the investigation of occupational accidents, dangerous occurrences and diseases, specifying such diseases and the forms of notices, the persons and authorities to whom, they are to be furnished, the particulars to be contained in them and the time within which they are to be submitted;

providing for the submission of statement of accidents, man-days lost, volume of cargo handled and particulars of dock workers; and

any other matter which is required to be or may be specified by regulation.

the date to be specified after a draft of rule, regulation, and bye-laws proposed to be made will be taken under consideration, shall not be less than forty-five days from the date on which the draft of the proposed rule, regulation and bye-laws is published for general information;

rule, regulation and bye-laws shall be published in the Official Gazette and on such publication, shall have effect as if enacted in this Code.

The employer of a mine may, and shall, if called upon to do so by the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator, frame and submit to the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator a draft of such bye-laws, not being inconsistent with this Code or any rules or regulations or standards for the time being in force, governing the use of any particular machinery or the adoption of a particular method of working in the mine, as the employer may deem necessary to prevent accidents and provide for the safety, convenience and discipline of the persons employed in the mine.

If any such employer—

If within a period of two months from the date on which any draft bye-laws or draft amendments are sent by the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator to the employer under the provisions of sub-section (2), the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator and the employer are unable to agree as to the terms of the bye-laws to be made under sub-section (1), the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator shall refer the draft bye-laws for settlement to the technical committee constituted under sub-section (5) of section 16 in respect of mines.

When such draft bye-laws have been agreed to by the employer and the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator, or, when they are unable to agree, have been settled by the technical Committee constituted under sub-section (5) of section 16 in respect of mines, a copy of the draft bye-laws shall be sent by the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator or Inspector-cum-Facilitator to the Central Government for approval:

Every objection under second proviso to sub-section (4) shall be in writing and shall state—

The Central Government shall consider any objection made within the required time by or on behalf of persons appearing to it to be affected, and may approve the bye-laws either in the form in which they were published or after making such amendments thereto as it thinks fit.

The employer shall cause a copy of the bye-laws, in English and in such other language or languages as may be prescribed by the Central Government, to be pasted up in some conspicuous place at or near the mine, where the bye-laws may be conveniently read or seen by the persons employed; and, as and when the same become defaced, obliterated or destroyed, shall cause them to be pasted again.

The Central Government may, by order in writing rescind, in whole or in part, any bye-law so made, and thereupon such bye-law shall cease to have effect accordingly.

The following enactments shall stand repealed on and from the dates the notification referred to in sub-section (2) of section 1 is issued, namely:—

Every Chief Inspector, Additional Chief Inspector, Joint Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector, Inspector and every other officer appointed for the purposes under any of the provisions of the enactments repealed by this Code, shall be deemed to have been appointed under this Code for such purposes under this Code.

Notwithstanding repeal under sub-section (1), anything done or any action taken under the enactments so repealed (including any rule, regulation, bye-laws, notification, nomination, appointment, order or direction made thereunder) shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Code and shall remain in force to the extent they are not contrary to the provisions of this Code till they are repealed by the Central Government.

Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (2), provisions of section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 shall apply to the repeal of such enactments.