Dock Workers Safety Division

The office of the Chief Adviser of Factories, presently known as DGFASLI drafted the Indian Dock Labourers Regulations,1948 under the Indian Labourers Act, 1934. The Chief Adviser of Factories started administering the Regulations from 1948 in the five major ports of Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Cochin and Visakhapatnam through the three inspectorates of Dock Safety set up in Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai.

Besides these Regulations, the Dock Workers (Safety,Health &Welfare) Scheme,1961 framed under the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948 was also enforced by the Inspectorate of Dock Safety in the major ports. Subsequently, six more ports namely, Paradip, Turicorin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Kandla and Nhava-Sheva, renamed as Jawaharlal Nehru Port, were declared as major ports.

Consequent to the recommendation of the First National Commission on Labour (Gajendranagar Commission) a common comprehensive law on safety and health of dock workers titled the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act,1986 was framed and made applicable from 15th April 1987. Under this Act a set of comprehensive regulations called the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1990 was framed and brought into force with effect from 18th March 1990 and thereby repealing the earlier Regulations and Scheme. The new Act and Regulations are in line with the ILO Convention 152 concerning safety and health in dock work. The Director General, DGFASLI is the Chief Inspector of Dock Safety and the administration of these dock safety statutes is carried out by the Ministry of Labour through DGFASLI, Mumbai

The DGFASLI is also entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 framed under the Environment(Protection) Act, 1986, in the port sector.

The main focus of the Dock Safety division is on:

• Administering the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act,1986 and the Dock Workers(Safety, Health and Welfare)Regulations, 1990 framed there under involving administrative approval of decisions arising out of enforcement of the Statutes by the Chief Inspector of Dock Safety and fixing inspection priorities, etc. in all the eleven major ports.
• Proposing amendments to the existing Dock Safety Legislation
• Enforcing the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 framed thereunder and the Marking of Heavy Packages Act, 1951 and the Rules made there under
• Planning and policy making
• Advisory services to the Port Authorities, Dock Labour Boards, Stevedores and other employers of dock workers.
• Organising international training programmes for port officials from developing countries.
• Publishing Annual Reports on the administration of the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 and the Regulations framed there under.

The enforcement function is carried out through the Eleven Inspectorates located at the major ports with their regional inspectorates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. These Inspectorates of Dock Safety are responsible for carrying out the following major activities.

Enforcement

• Inspection of ships, docks, loose gear, lifting appliances, transport equipment etc.
• Investigation of accidents
• Launching of prosecutions.

Training

• Carrying out safety studies and surveys through a multi-disciplinary approach
• Organising and conducting training courses on occupational safety and health

Advisory Services

Rendering Technical Advice to:

• The port authorities
• Other employers of dock workers
• Port users

Safety Promotional activities

• Organising/participating in safety promotional activities such as celebration of Dock Safety Weeks
• Functioning as representatives of the Chief Inspector of Dock Safety on the Dock Safety Committees at ports

Construction Advisory Service

The Construction Advisory Service Division coordinates and assists the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India on matters connected with the regulatory aspects pertaining to Construction Safety as under the Building and Other Construction Workers(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, Central Rules, 1998 and State Rules as well as the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

Award Section

The Awards division operates the National safety Awards and the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar of the Labour Ministry. There are two schemes of National Safety Awards which are presented to the management of factories and ports for best safety performance. The "Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars" are given to employees of factories, plantations and ports for outstanding suggestions made by them that have resulted in increased productivity, import substitution or higher efficiency.

The Awards cell operates the Prime Minister's Shram Award, Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP), National Safety Awards (NSA) of the Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Prime Minister's Shram Award (P.M.S.A)

The Prime Minister's Shram Award was instituted in the year 1985. The objective of the Prime Minister's Shram Award is in recognize the outstanding contributions made by workmen as defined int he Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 in organisations both in public and private sector who have distinguished record of performance, devotion to duty of a high order, specific contributions in the field of productivity, proven innovative abilities etc.

There are 41** Awards under the scheme. The awards in order of importance are : Shram Ratna, Shram Bhushan, Shram Vir/Veerangana and Shram Shri/Devi. The recognition consists of a Sanand and Cash award. The awards are shared between private and public sector industries, except the top award of Shram Ratna which is common to both the sectors.

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (V.R.P)

The Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar was instituted in the year 1965 (earlier named as Shram Vir National Award). The objective of the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) is to recognize the outstanding contributions made by a worker or a group of workers in an organisation to improve productivity, occupational safety & health, environment and working conditions as well as quality & safety of products. The scheme is applicable for workers employed in the factories and docks. There are 28 awards under this scheme.

National Safety Awards (N.S.A.)

The National Safety Awards (N.S.A) was instituted in the year 1965, NSA is meant to give recognition to good safety performance on the part of Industrial Establishments and to maintain the morale of both the managements and the workers for accident prevention and safety promotion programmes.

The awards are given based on Frequency Rate of accidents and accident - free period. A total of 240 awards are given to different categories of Industries and Major Ports.

NOTE : There are 41** Awards under the scheme.
Instead of 41 , 33 nos awards under the Scheme.

As per Application form PMSA Awards, no of awards distributed as follows:

NOTE : Shram Ratna puraskar is common to both Public and private sector however sl no 2,3,4 distributed to Public sector and private sector equally.