Notified Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026: What Employers Need to Know

Vide notification dated May 08, 2026, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has notified the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 (“OSH Rules”), framed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2025 (“OSH Code”). 

The notified OSH Rules introduce a wide-ranging compliance framework covering matters such as mandatory appointment letters, annual health examinations, journey allowance for inter-State migrant workers, enhanced contractor compliances, and additional safeguards for women employees and contract labour. The OSH Rules therefore have significant operational and commercial implications for employers across sectors.

The key features of the notified OSH Rules are summarized below:

1. Registration of Establishment

• Employer must apply electronically with complete establishment details and supporting documents; on completion, registration is to be granted within seven (7) days, failing which it is deemed registered with auto-generated certificate, and late fee may apply for delayed registration beyond sixty (60) days

• Registration certificate is non-transferable and must be displayed prominently; any change in particulars must be updated within thirty (30) days, with amended certificate issued within seven (7) days or auto-generated if delayed

• On closure, employer must intimate closure with proof of full settlement of dues and statutory compliance within thirty (30) days; registration is to be cancelled within sixty (60) days or auto-cancelled thereafter, with closure details shared with EPFO and ESIC

2. Annual Health Examination

• Every employer engaged in dock work, mines, building and construction work must arrange free annual medical examination for employees who have completed forty (40) years of age

• Medical examination must be conducted by a qualified medical practitioner, with certificate issued to both employer and employee

• Employers may avail medical examination facilities through ESIC

• In case of mines, additional medical examinations shall apply as separately prescribed under the OSH Rules

3. Appointment Letters

• No employee can be employed unless an appointment letter is issued in the prescribed format

• Appointment letter must contain key particulars including designation, category of skill, nature of employment, wages, date of joining, social security details and nature of duties, and UAN/ESI details, where available

• For women employees, appointment letter must specify applicability of maternity benefits under the Code on Social Security, 2020

4. Notice of Accidents, Dangerous Occurrences and Diseases / Employee Duty to Report Unsafe Conditions

Accident and Dangerous Occurrence Reporting

• Fatal accidents must be reported by employer to the police authorities and family members/relatives of the affected person; accidents causing incapacity to work for forty-eight (48) hours or more must be reported to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within prescribed timelines

• Dangerous occurrences must be intimated within twelve (12) hours to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator and District Magistrate/Sub-Divisional Officer

• OSH Rules prescribe an extensive list of dangerous occurrences including explosions, crane collapse, fire, hazardous gas leakage, structural collapse, mine inundation and electrical flash-over

• Occupational diseases specified under the Third Schedule must be notified by employer and also by the attending qualified medical practitioner

Employee Duty to Report Unsafe Conditions

• Employees aware of any unsafe or unhealthy condition at workplace are required to immediately report the same to employer, safety officer or concerned authority

• Employer is required to take immediate remedial action upon receiving information regarding imminent danger to employee health or safety

5. Safety Committees

• Every establishment employing five hundred (500) or more workers must constitute a Safety Committee comprising representatives of employer and workers

• Number of employer and worker representatives must be equal, subject to maximum of twenty (20) members

• Safety Committee shall have tenure of three (3) years and must meet at least once every quarter; in mines, meetings are required at least once every month

• Safety Committee must be informed regarding workplace hazards, accident statistics, occupational health inspections and safety audits

• Employer must act on Safety Committee recommendations within fifteen (15) days of receipt

Safety Officers

• Safety officers are mandatory for prescribed establishments including dock work, building and construction work and mines

• OSH Rules prescribe detailed qualification and experience requirements for appointment of safety officers

• Safety officers are responsible for safety inspections, accident investigations, awareness programmes, audits and safety training

• Safety officers are also required to maintain detailed records of safety-related activities and inspections

6. Health, Safety and Working Conditions

• OSH Rules prescribe detailed health, safety and welfare requirements across sectors including factories, mines, dock work, plantations, motor transport, beedi and cigar work and construction activities

• Employers are required to maintain safe working environment, ventilation, sanitation, drinking water, lighting and cleanliness standards

• Detailed provisions exist relating to hazardous processes, dangerous machinery, emergency preparedness, occupational health and personal protective equipment

• Sector-specific requirements are prescribed for mines, dock work, construction activities and hazardous operations

7. Welfare Provisions

• Employers are required to provide welfare facilities including canteens, rest rooms, washing facilities, first-aid arrangements and welfare officers, wherever applicable

• Separate welfare provisions are prescribed for sectors such as mines, construction work, plantations and motor transport undertakings

• OSH Rules also provide for adequate arrangements relating to drinking water, latrines, urinals and crèche facilities, where applicable

• Certain welfare facilities are linked to prescribed employee thresholds (for e.g. canteens in establishments like factory, mine, building or other construction work are required only where one hundred (100) or more workers are engaged) under the OSH Rules

8. Records, Registers and Returns (Including Notice Board Display)

• Employers are required to maintain prescribed records and registers including employee register, attendance register-cum-muster roll, register of wages, overtime and deductions, register of accidents and dangerous occurrences and register of leave with wages

• Registers may be maintained electronically or otherwise, must be kept updated, preserved for five (5) calendar years, and produced before the Inspector-cum-Facilitator on demand

• Employers are required to issue wage slips to employees on or before wage payment date and upload prescribed annual returns electronically in prescribed forms

• Employers must display notices at conspicuous places containing particulars such as name and address of establishment, working hours, wage period, wage payment date, details of accidents and dangerous occurrences for preceding five (5) years and details of jurisdictional Inspector-cum-Facilitator

• Employers are required to upload annual returns electronically on or before the twenty-eighth (28^th) or twenty-ninth (29^th) February following the end of each calendar year, containing details relating to categories of employees, health and welfare facilities, retrenchment or lay-offs, bonus, maternity benefits and other prescribed particulars

• Special Provisions Relating to Employment of Women

• Women may be employed before 6:00 a.m. and beyond 7:00 p.m. only with their written consent and subject to prescribed safeguards

• Employers are required to provide adequate transportation facilities, well-lit workplace and access areas, CCTV surveillance near common facilities and dedicated emergency contact numbers

• Employers must ensure safe, secure and healthy working conditions and comply with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

• No woman employee may be employed in contravention of maternity benefit provisions under the Code on Social Security, 2020

10. Contractors 

• Contractors seeking licence must satisfy prescribed eligibility criteria, including that the contractor entity or individual must not be an un-discharged insolvent and must not have been convicted, during the preceding two (2) years, of any offence punishable with imprisonment exceeding three (3) months

• Authorities may suspend or revoke licence for violation of statutory conditions or non-compliance

• Contractors are required to issue experience certificates to contract workers in prescribed cases

• Intimation regarding work orders and prescribed particulars must be furnished electronically

• Workers regularly employed by contractor under mutually accepted employment standards must receive annual increment of at least two percent (2%) of wages

11. Journey Allowance to Inter-State Migrant Workers (ISMW)

• Inter-state migrant workers are entitled to journey allowance for onward and return journeys in prescribed circumstances once in twelve (12) months

• Benefit is available where the inter-state migrant worker has worked for at least one hundred and eighty (180) days in the concerned establishment during the preceding twelve (12) months 

• Where an inter-State migrant worker changes employer and has not availed journey allowance from previous employer, the present employer is required to provide the allowance upon completion of the prescribed eligibility period, including service rendered with previous employer

12. Grievance Redressal Mechanism for Contract Labour

• Contract labour may raise grievances relating to health, working conditions and wages before the principal employer

• Principal employer is required to constitute a Grievance Redressal Committee comprising representatives of principal employer and contractor and is required to dispose of grievances within thirty (30) days

• Where grievance is not resolved within prescribed timeline, matter must be forwarded electronically to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator

• Inspector-cum-Facilitator is required to ensure disposal of grievance within sixty (60) days from receipt

Anhad Law’s Perspective 

Significantly, under the framework of the labour codes in India, the applicability of the Central Rules and the State Rules depends upon which authority is designated as the “appropriate government” for a particular establishment. The Central Rules are applicable to establishments and sectors where the Central Government is recognised as the appropriate government under the relevant labour laws. These typically include industries and establishments operating under the authority or control of the Central Government, such as the banking sector, insurance companies, telecommunications, civil aviation, major ports, mines, oil fields, railways, and central public sector enterprises (CPSUs). Accordingly, employers operating in these sectors are required to comply with the IR (Central) Rules which have been brought into force on May 08,2026.

In contrast, for most other establishments, including private limited companies engaged in IT/ITES, software development, consulting and other services, trading, and manufacturing activities, the appropriate government is generally the respective State Government in which location the establishment is situated. Consequently, although the labour codes have been enacted at the central level, the operational implementation for such establishments will substantially depend upon the notification and enforcement of the corresponding State Rules by the concerned State Governments. Therefore, companies having offices, factories, or operations in different States will need to monitor the status of the State Rules in each relevant jurisdiction, as the compliance obligations under the labour codes would become fully applicable only upon notification and enforcement of the respective State Rules by those states.

Notwithstanding the same, the notification of the OSH Rules is a significant step towards operationalisation of the OSH Code. From a commercial perspective, employers now need to revisit and strengthen existing internal frameworks relating to appointment documentation, contractor management, workplace safety protocols, accident reporting mechanisms, female employees’ safety measures and maintenance of statutory registers and returns. Businesses engaging contract labour, inter-State migrant workers or operating across multiple sectors/states may particularly need to evaluate their existing compliance structures and vendor arrangements in light of the expanded obligations and shared liabilities contemplated under the OSH Rules.

© Anhad Law 

Disclaimer: The contents of the above publication are based on interpretation, analysis and understanding of applicable laws and updates in law, within the knowledge of the authors. Readers should take steps to ascertain the current developments, given the everyday changes that may be occurring in India and internationally on the subject covered hereinabove. This is not a legal opinion, analysis, or interpretation. This is an initiative to share developments in the world of law, or as may be relevant for a reader. No reader should act on the basis of any statement made above without seeking professional and upto-date legal advice.