Setting Up of Business, Industrial and Labour Laws · The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020

Duties of Employer and Employees under the OSH Code, 2020

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Under the OSH Code, 2020, the employer must keep the workplace free from hazards, follow safety standards, give free annual health checks where prescribed, issue appointment letters, and charge nothing for safety. Employees have the right to information and to report danger. To answer, state the provision, apply it to the facts, then conclude.

Understand Duties of Employer and Employees

The OSH Code, 2020 puts the main burden of workplace safety on the employer. The reason is simple: the employer controls the premises, machines, materials and work systems. An employee cannot make a plant safe, but the employer can.

Section 6 is the core provision. It says every employer must ensure the workplace is free from hazards likely to cause injury or occupational disease. The employer must also comply with the safety and health standards declared under section 18 and with the rules, regulations, bye-laws or orders made under the Code.

Section 6 also covers people and money. The employer must issue a letter of appointment to every employee. The employer must provide an annual health examination or test free of cost to the employees or classes of establishments that the appropriate Government prescribes. No charge can be levied on any employee for anything done or provided for safety and health, including medical examinations to detect occupational diseases.

For a factory, mine, dock work, building or other construction work or plantation, the employer is also responsible for the safety and health of employees, workers and other persons on the work premises, with or without his knowledge. Section 6(2) lists particular duties here: safe plant and systems of work, safe use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances, information, instruction, training and supervision, safe places of work with safe access and exit, and a safe working environment with welfare facilities.

Employees are not passive. Section 14 gives every employee the right to get information on health and safety at work. The employee may represent inadequate protection to the employer, directly or through a member of the Safety Committee under section 22 (if the employer has constituted one), and if not satisfied, to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator. In case of imminent danger, the employee may inform the employer and, at the same time, the Inspector-cum-Facilitator. Section 23 adds the employer's duty to maintain prescribed health, safety and working conditions such as cleanliness, ventilation, drinking water, lighting and separate latrines and urinals. The text supplied here does not set out the rules on how a Safety Committee is constituted, so do not invent its composition or thresholds in your answer.

Key rules to remember

Employer's general duties: Section 6(1): hazard-free workplace + comply with standards + free annual health check (as prescribed) + safe environment + hazardous and e-waste disposal + appointment letter + no charge for safety + responsibility for all persons on premises (factory, mine, dock, building or construction work, plantation); Clauses (a) to (h). The responsibility for other persons on the premises applies only to the listed workplaces.
Free annual health examination: Section 6(1)(c): free of cost, for such age or class of employees or establishments as the appropriate Government prescribes; It is not automatic for every employee. It depends on what the appropriate Government prescribes.
Appointment letter: Section 6(1)(f): issue to every employee on appointment; if not issued before commencement of the Code, issue within three months of commencement; Information and form are as prescribed by the appropriate Government.
No charge for safety: Section 6(1)(g): no charge on any employee for safety and health measures, including medical examination to detect occupational diseases; The cost lies on the employer.
Particular duties in high-risk workplaces: Section 6(2): safe plant and systems; safe handling of articles and substances; information, instruction, training, supervision; safe places, access and egress; safe working environment and welfare; Applies particularly to factory, mines, dock, building or construction work or plantation, without limiting section 6(1).
Working conditions: Section 23: employer maintains health, safety and working conditions as prescribed by the Central Government; Examples: cleanliness, ventilation, drinking water, lighting, separate latrines and urinals for male, female and transgender employees, waste and effluent treatment.
Employee rights: Section 14: information on health and safety; representation to employer or Safety Committee member, then Inspector-cum-Facilitator; report of imminent danger to employer and Inspector-cum-Facilitator; If the employer doubts the danger, he must still refer the matter forthwith to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, whose decision is final.

How to solve Duties of Employer and Employees questions

Use this method for both theory questions and fact-based problems on employer and employee duties.

1Identify who owes the duty: employer, employee, or a designer, manufacturer, importer or supplier (section 8).
2Identify the type of workplace. Is it a factory, mine, dock, building or construction work or plantation, or an ordinary establishment? This decides whether the extra duties for those workplaces apply.
3State the provision in plain words with the section number: section 6 for employer duties, section 14 for employee rights, section 23 for working conditions, section 18 for standards.
4Match each fact to a clause, such as the health check, appointment letter, no-charge rule, hazard-free workplace or waste disposal.
5Check conditions and qualifiers: 'as prescribed', 'reasonably practicable', 'with or without his knowledge'.
6Write a clear conclusion: whether the employer or employee acted correctly and what must be done.

Quickest way: Clause checklist for section 6

When to use it: Use it when a question gives a short scenario and asks whether the employer has breached the Code.

List the facts in the scenario: hazard, health check, appointment letter, charge to workers, waste, visitors or contractors on premises.
Tick each against section 6(1)(a) to (h).
If the place is a factory, mine, dock, construction site or plantation, add section 6(1)(h) and section 6(2).
If the scenario involves danger to life, bring in section 14(2) to (4).
Write one line per breach, then the conclusion.

Common mistakes in Duties of Employer and Employees

Saying every employee gets a free annual health check.
Students remember 'free annual health examination' and forget the qualifier.
Fix: Write that it is free of cost for employees or classes of establishments as prescribed by the appropriate Government, under section 6(1)(c).
Limiting the employer's responsibility to his own employees.
Students read only clause (a).
Fix: For factory, mine, dock work, building or construction work and plantation, section 6(1)(h) covers employees, workers and other persons on the premises, with or without the employer's knowledge.
Stating the Safety Committee rules (members, size, thresholds) from memory without being sure.
Students mix the Code with older laws or guesswork.
Fix: Say that the committee is under section 22 and that employees may represent through its member if the employer has constituted one. State further details only if you are sure of them.
Claiming the employer may recover medical examination costs from workers.
Confusion with other deductions in wage laws.
Fix: Quote section 6(1)(g): no charge for anything done or provided for safety and health, including medical examination to detect occupational diseases.
Saying the employee must always wait for the employer before approaching the Inspector-cum-Facilitator on imminent danger.
Students miss the word 'simultaneously'.
Fix: Under section 14(2), the employee may notify the employer and simultaneously the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
Forgetting the appointment letter transition rule.
It sits at the end of clause (f).
Fix: Remember that an employee not issued a letter before commencement must get one within three months of commencement.

Worked examples

Example 1

Sunrise Textiles Pvt. Ltd. runs a factory in Surat. It asks workers to pay ₹200 each for a medical test to detect byssinosis, a lung disease linked to cotton dust, and gives no appointment letters to new joiners. Advise whether the company has complied with the OSH Code, 2020.

Show the solution

Provision: section 6(1)(g) says the employer must ensure that no charge is levied on any employee for anything done or provided for safety and health, including medical examination to detect occupational diseases.
Facts: charging ₹200 for a test to detect an occupational disease falls directly within this clause.
Provision: section 6(1)(f) requires the employer to issue a letter of appointment to every employee on appointment, in the prescribed form and with the prescribed information.
Facts: new joiners get no letters, so clause (f) is breached.
Additional point: as the workplace is a factory, the employer is also responsible for safety and health of all persons on the premises under section 6(1)(h).

Answer: No. Sunrise Textiles has breached section 6(1)(g) by charging for the medical test and section 6(1)(f) by not issuing appointment letters. It must stop the charge, bear the cost, and issue appointment letters in the prescribed form.

Example 2

Ravi, an employee at a construction site of Mehta Builders Ltd., sees that scaffolding has become unstable and fears imminent serious injury. He informs the site manager, who says there is no danger. What can Ravi do, and what must the employer do?

Show the solution

Provision: section 14(2) lets an employee with reasonable apprehension of imminent serious personal injury, death or danger to health bring it to the employer's notice, directly or through a Safety Committee member, and simultaneously to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
Application: Ravi may therefore approach the Inspector-cum-Facilitator at the same time as informing the employer. He need not wait.
Provision: section 14(3) requires the employer to take immediate remedial action if satisfied that the danger exists, and to report forthwith to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
Provision: section 14(4) says that if the employer is not satisfied about the danger, he must nevertheless refer the matter forthwith to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, whose decision is final.
Additional point: building or construction work is a listed workplace, so under section 6(1)(h) and 6(2)(a) the employer must keep plant and systems of work safe.

Answer: Ravi can notify the Inspector-cum-Facilitator at the same time. Even if Mehta Builders disagrees, it must refer the matter forthwith to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, whose decision on imminent danger is final. If danger exists, it must take immediate remedial action and report it.

Exam tips

Quote section numbers: 6 for employer duties, 14 for employee rights, 23 for working conditions, 18 for standards, 8 for designers and suppliers.
Always add the qualifier 'as prescribed by the appropriate Government' when writing about the free health check and appointment letter.
In a scenario, first name the type of workplace. The factory, mine, dock, construction and plantation duties are wider.
Write in ICSI style: provision, facts, conclusion. Keep the conclusion to one clear line.
Do not invent Safety Committee details. Mention section 22 and the representation route in section 14.

Practice questions from The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020

Duties of Employer and Employees in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Duties of Employer and Employees: frequently asked questions

Is the annual health check free for all employees under the OSH Code?

Not automatically. Section 6(1)(c) requires the employer to provide it free of cost to employees of such age or class, or in such classes of establishments, as the appropriate Government prescribes.

What are the duties of employees under the OSH Code?

The supplied text sets out employee rights in section 14: to get information on health and safety, to make representations, and to report imminent danger. Frame your answer around these rights and the reporting route, and add other employee duties only if you are sure of the section.

Who is responsible for safety of visitors and contractors' workers?

In a factory, mine, dock work, building or construction work or plantation, section 6(1)(h) makes the employer responsible for the safety and health of employees, workers and other persons on the premises, with or without his knowledge.

How is a safety committee constituted under the OSH Code?

Section 14 refers to a Safety Committee constituted under section 22, if the employer has constituted one. Employees can raise safety concerns through a member of it. Check the Code and rules for composition details before writing them.