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Unit 4: Factories Act, 1948

of all fatal accidents within a month of their occurrence. It also empowered the Chief Inspector or Notes
the Director General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes or the Director General of
Health Services to the Government of India or such other officer as may be authorised by them,
to undertake safety and occupational health surveys. The Act also brought under its protective
clause the contract labour, as also any other category of labour employed directly or through any
agency with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, whether for remuneration or
not. The amended Act further prescribed the provision of creche facility in every factory wherein
more than 30 women workers (instead of 50, as provided in the Principal Act) are ordinarily
employed. According to the Act, if a worker is discharged or dismissed from service or quits his
employment or is superannuated or dies while in service, during the course of the calendar year,
he or his heir or nominee, as the case may be, shall be entitled to wages in lieu of the quantum of
leave due. The amended Act also provided for modified rates of general penalty for offences and
enhanced penalty after previous conviction.
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Caution Besides amendments to Sections 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 25, 28-32, 36A, 64, 70, 80,
87, 89, 90, 91A, 92, 94-99, 114, 119 and schedule to the Principal Act, the amended Act of
1987 also provides for omission of Section 100 of the Principal Act and insertion of new
Section 7A, 7-13, 87A, 96A, 104A, 106A, 111A and 118A, substitution of new sections for
Sections 36.and 38, insertion of a new Chapter IV-A, after Chapter IV and the insertion of
two new schedules before the schedule to the Principal Act. The newly inserted Sections
7A, 7B, 87A, 96A, 104A, 106A, 111A and 118A relate to general duties of the occupier,
general duties of manufacturers, etc., regarding articles and substances for use in factories;
power to prohibit employment on account of serious hazard; penalty for contravention of
the provisions of Sections 41B, 41C and 41H, onus of providing limits of what is practicable,
etc; jurisdiction of a court for entertaining proceedings, and so on, for offence, right of
workers, etc.; and restriction on disclosure of information; respectively.
The new Sections 36 and 38 relate to precautions against dangerous fumes, gases, etc., and
precautions in case of fire, respectively. The new Chapter IV-A inserted after Chapter IV of the
principal Act, includes the following provisions relating to hazardous processes:

l z Constitution of Site Appraisal
l z Compulsory disclosure of information by the occupier
l z Specific responsibility of the occupier in relation to hazardous processes
l z Power of Central Government to appoint Inquiry Committees
l z Emergency standards
l z Permissible limits of exposure of chemical and toxic substances

l z Workers’ participation in safety management
l z Right of workers to warn about imminent danger.
The new schedules, inserted before the Schedule to the Principal Act, include the list of industries
involving hazardous processes and permissible levels of certain chemical substances in the
working environment.
All the provisions of the Factories (Amendment) Act, 1987 came into force with effect from 1st
December, 1987 except the Schedule containing list of notifiable diseases and Sections 7-13 and
41-F which came into force with effect from 1st June, 1988.

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