General Safety Audits

Safety Audit is very important under various statutes in India.

The general duties of the occupier specified under Section 7-A of the Factories Act, 1948, it become apparent that by carrying out a safety audit and doing the necessary monitoring/follow-up, most of the obligations under this section are fulfilled.

The State Factories Rules framed under the Factories Act insists that Health and Safety Policy should contain “relevant techniques and methods, such as safety audits and risk assessment to be adopted for periodical assessment of the status of the health, safety & environment and the remedial measures”.

The Rule 10 of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989, framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, insists that (i) the occupier of both new and old industrial activities covered under the Rule 10, shall carry out an independent “Safety Audit” of the respective industrial activities with the help of an expert not associated with such industrial activities, (ii) the occupier shall forward a copy of the audited report along with comments to the concerned authorities within 30 days after the completion of such audit, and (iii) the occupier shall update the safety audit report once a year by conducting a fresh “Safety Audit” and forward the copy of it with his comments thereon within 30 days to the concerned authority.

The Industrial Development Bank of India, also insists for a Safety Audit report as one of the conditions for granting finance for expansion or diversification.

With the above provisions in view, SHIB has created expertise to carry out General Safety Audits/SHE Audits as per Indian Standard IS 14489:2002, in any factories/plants/workplaces, in particular the following categories of industrial units/plants: