Lok Sabha Question No. 1766 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-10
Subject: Occupational Hazards in the Construction  Industry
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Dr. Dharamvira Gandhi, Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale, Dr. M K Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1766 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2025

## OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

1766. DR. M K VISHNU PRASAD:

DR. DHARAMVIRA GANDHI:

DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  occupational hazards in  the  construction  industry,  including  risks  of  cancer, musculoskeletal  morbidities,  respiratory  conditions  and  other
- health issues;
- (b)the initiatives undertaken to enforce existing laws on occupational safety, including the provision of protective gear such as steeltoed  boots,  hard  hats,  ear  muffs,  masks,  and  harnesses  on
- construction sites;
- (c)the measures implemented to improve access to healthcare for migrant construction workers including mobile health and cancer screening programmes and the portability of Government entitlement schemes;
- (d)the details of progress that has been made by the Government to develop  localised  health  insurance  schemes  for  construction workers,  particularly in  Karnataka  and  Kerala,  where  pilot programmes have already been launched; and
- (e)the data on construction worker deaths during the last five years including the number of cases compensated, claims denied and pending settlements, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

- (a) to (e):  The  Central  Government  has  enacted  the  Building  and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions  of  Service)  Act,  1996  [BOCW  (RE&CS)  Act,  1996]  to regulate the employment and conditions of service of building and other construction workers. The Act  provides for their safety, health and welfare measures and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Government has set up the Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) to ensure enforcement of the labour laws in the central sphere. The regular inspections are conducted by the Director  General  (Inspection)/Chief  Labour  Commissioner  (Central) Organisation  in  the  Central  Sphere  and  appropriate  action  taken where  necessary  under  the  provisions  of  the  Building  and  Other Construction Workers (RE&CS) Act, 1996. The state governments are mandated  to  ensure  enforcement  of  the  labour  laws  in  the  state sphere.

In  order  to  augment the efforts for safety and health of construction workers, 'Construction Advisory Service (CAS) Division' has been created in Directorate General of Factory Advice Service & Labour  Institutes  (DGFASLI),  Mumbai  which  has  initiated  various certificate courses in the field of Construction Safety.

Directions under the Act have been issued from time to time to State/UT BOCW Welfare Boards, inter-alia, for implementation of the provisions of the Act, optimum utilization of the cess funds. A Monitoring Committee has been constituted to monitor the implementation  of  directions  issued  under  the  said  Act,  including utilization of cess fund for welfare scheme framed by the States/UTs.

In order to safeguard the interest of the Migrant workers, the Parliament has enacted  the Inter-State  Migrant  Workmen (Regulation  of  Employment  and  Conditions  of  Services)  Act,  1979 which, inter alia, provides for registration of certain establishments employing Inter State Migrant Workers, licensing of contractors, etc. Workers employed with such establishments are to be provided with payment  of  minimum  wages,  journey  allowance,  displacement allowance, residential accommodation, medical facilities and protective  clothing,  etc.  The  Act  has  been  subsumed  in  The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Condition Code, 2020.

Compensation in death cases are paid as per, inter-alia, provisions of Employees Compensation Act, 1923, schemes of BOCW Welfare Boards, as per eligibility.

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