Lakshadweep OSH explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025 are the Union Territory's rules under the OSH Code, 2020. For an island employer they set the registration fee by headcount, the time limits for accident and disease notices, who needs a Safety Committee or Safety Officer, how weekly holidays, overtime and notices of work periods operate, which registers to keep, and the conditions for employing women at night.
Registration is applied for through the portal in Form 04 with a fee by number of employees, from 1000 (up to 20 employees) to 50000 (above 5000), and a late fee of twenty five percent (rules 6 and 9). A death at work is reported within twelve hours and confirmed in Form 9 within twenty-four hours (rule 14). Overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate (rule 36). The annual return in Form 19 goes on the portal not later than 28th February (rule 50).
The rule set and commencement
The rules are the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025, as notified on 27 April 2026 (F.No.08/04/2024-LE&T, Lakshadweep Gazette Extraordinary of the same date). Later amendments and State notifications under these rules should be checked in the State Gazette.
The Administrator makes them under section 133(1) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, read with the powers delegated by the Ministry of Home Affairs by Notification S.O.273(E) dated 16th January, 2023, in supersession of the rules on the subject in force in the Union Territory, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before the supersession. Rule 1(2) extends them to the whole of the Union Territory and rule 1(3) says: "They shall come into force on the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette." The four Codes were brought into force from 21 November 2025. Under rule 2, "portal" means the website of the Labour Department of the Union Territory, and "year" means the twelve months beginning on 1 January.
How the rules sit with the Central rules
The Code section that authorises State rules is explained in sections 135 and 136 of the OSH Code, 2020; the Central rules on registration are in rules 1 and 2, rule 3 and rule 4. Hours and holidays are in Central rule 64, rules 67 and 68 and rule 69, and registers in rule 72, rules 73 and 74 and rule 78. If you want a Lakshadweep establishment checked against all of these, our labour law compliance service can do that. Contract labour, migrant workers, factories and offences are in the companion article on contract labour, migrant workers, factories and offences under the Lakshadweep OSH rules.
Chapter II: registration (rules 6 to 11)
Application is made to the Registering Officer in Form 04 through the portal, with details of the establishment, documents and proof of identity and address of the employer, signed digitally or otherwise, accompanied by the fee and by information on inter-State migrant workers in Form 05 (rule 6(1) to (5)). An employer whose establishment is registered under a Central law updates the registration particulars on the portal within six months from the date the rules come into force (rule 6(4)). If the number of employees later rises, the differential fee under the schedule is payable (rule 6(7)).
| Number of employees | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to 20 | 1000 |
| 21-50 | 2000 |
| 51-100 | 3000 |
| 101-150 | 5000 |
| 151-200 | 7500 |
| 201-250 | 10000 |
| 251-500 | 12500 |
| 501-750 | 15000 |
| 751-1000 | 17500 |
| 1001-1500 | 20000 |
| 1501-2000 | 25000 |
| 2001-3000 | 30000 |
| 3001-5000 | 40000 |
| Above 5000 | 50000 |
The fee is paid through the portal and credited to the treasury (rule 10). If the application is not made within the time in section 3(1), a late fee of twenty five percent of the scheduled fee is charged (rule 9). The Registering Officer issues the certificate electronically; if the officer fails to issue it, or to entertain a complete application within the prescribed period, the establishment is deemed registered immediately after that period ends (rule 7). The officer keeps a register in Form 6 and amends the certificate for changes (rule 8). Under rule 11, the employer gives notice of commencement in Form 07 on the portal before fifteen days of the commencement, and a written notice in Form 07 within thirty days of cessation, to the Registering Officer and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
Chapter III: employer duties and notices (rules 12 to 18)
| Obligation | Rule | Form | As printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual medical examination | 12(1) | Record in Form 08 | Factory, dock, building or construction employees above the age of forty-five, without charge to them, annually within 120 days from the start of the year; those handling hazardous substances, processes or dangerous operations, any age, bi-annually within thirty days from 1 January and 1 July |
| Appointment letter | 13 | Format in the rule | To every employee, with name, designation, terms, wages and registration and labour identification numbers |
| Fatal accident | 14(1), (2) | Form 9 | Inform the Registering Officer or Designated Authority and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within twelve hours; also the District or Sub-Divisional Magistrate, police station, family and, for a migrant worker, the authorities of the concerned State; confirm in Form 9 within twenty-four hours |
| Injury preventing work for forty-eight hours | 14(3) | Form 9 | To the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within twenty-four hours after the expiry of the forty-eight hours |
| Dangerous occurrence | 15 | Form 9 | By telephone, special messenger or email within twelve hours to the listed authorities |
| Notified disease | 16 | Form 10 | Forthwith; the medical practitioner reports to the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator by email within forty-eight hours |
| Employee's report of unsafe situation | 17 | Form 11 | To the Safety Committee, Safety Officer or employer |
| Report of action on imminent danger | 18 | Form 12 | To the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within twenty-four hours from the time remedial action is taken |
Rule 15 carries a schedule of dangerous occurrences, including bursting of pressure plant, crane or hoist collapse, explosion or toxic release, collapse of structures and scaffolding, and spillage of hazardous substances. Rule 31 requires every employer to submit occupational safety and health statistics electronically to the Administration and the Director General, Labour Bureau, and every inter-State migrant worker in the Union Territory to register on the portal.
Chapter IV: Advisory Board, Safety Committee and Safety Officer
Rules 19 to 30 constitute the Lakshadweep Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board, with the Secretary (LE&T) as Chairperson and two employer and two employee representatives serving three-year terms. A Safety Committee is required in an establishment with 250 or more employees, or one handling a hazardous substance with fifty or more employees, or one with a hazardous process or dangerous operation and fifty or more employees (rule 32(1)). The committee has a senior official as Chairman, a Safety Officer or Medical Officer as Secretary, and one representative each from human resources, production, maintenance and purchase; employees' representatives are elected, the tenure is two years, and it meets at least once every quarter (rule 32(2) to (5)).
A Safety Officer is required in factories with between 500 and 1,000 workers, with one more for every 500 workers or a fraction, and in hazardous-process factories or construction establishments with 250 to 500 workers, with one more for every 250 or a fraction (rule 33(1)). The employer informs the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator and the area Inspector-cum-Facilitator of an appointment within seven days (rule 33(4)); the rule also sets qualifications, duties and the right of appeal against dismissal to the Administration.
Chapter V: hours, holidays and overtime (rules 34 to 38)
- Work on the first day of the week (rule 34). A worker may work on it only if a whole-day holiday falls on one of the three days before or after and the employer has delivered a notice to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator's office and displayed it before the day or the substituted day, whichever is earlier. No worker may work more than ten days consecutively without a whole-day holiday.
- Compensatory holidays (rule 35). Allowed within the month the holidays were due or the two months after it; not more than two in a week except for continuous-process work; a notice displayed on or before the end of the month in which holidays are lost; entries in Form-14.
- Overtime pay (rule 36). For work above eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week, wages at twice the ordinary rate, paid at the end of each wage period. A fraction of an hour between 15 and 30 minutes counts as 30 minutes; above 30 minutes counts as an hour. For a monthly-paid worker the daily wage is 1/26th of the monthly wages.
- Limits (rules 36 and 37). Rule 37 limits work to twelve hours a day, a spread-over of thirteen hours, seventy-two hours a week including overtime, and overtime on not more than seven days at a stretch. The quarterly overtime ceiling is printed as one hundred twenty-five hours in the proviso to rule 36 and as one hundred and fifty hours in rule 37(iv), so confirm the applicable ceiling in the Gazette before scheduling overtime close to either figure.
- Notice of periods of work (rule 38). A notice in Form-13 showing for each day the periods of work for adults, fixed beforehand, with a copy to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator; a change needs electronic notice before it is made and, without the Inspector-cum-Facilitator's sanction, no further change until one week has elapsed.
Chapter VI: registers, records and returns (rules 39 to 50)
| Record | Rule | Form | As printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register of employees, wages and wage slip | 39, 45, 49 | As prescribed under the Code on Wages rules | Wage slip on or before payment |
| Register of adolescent workers | 40 | As under the Child and Adolescent Labour law | Kept by the employer |
| Muster-roll | 41(1) | Form-14 | Attendance marked within one hour in establishments with more than hundred workers, otherwise within half an hour; preserved three years after the last entry |
| Attendance card | 41(2) | Form-15 | Replacement on payment of twenty-five rupees within two days; not required where a compliant biometric attendance system exists |
| Register of accidents and dangerous occurrences | 42 | Form-16 | Electronically or otherwise |
| Register of leave with wages | 43 | Form-17 | Preserved three years after the last entry |
| Overtime entries and slips | 44 | Form-14 | Slip in duplicate, given immediately after overtime; weekly slips if the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator permits |
| Notice of authorities | 46 | Form-18 | Near the main entrance |
| Display of certificates and licences | 47 | Notice | At the entrance |
| Name board | 48 | Board | Two-thirds of the upper area in English, rest in another recognised language |
| Annual return | 50 | Form-19 | On the portal not later than 28th February following each calendar year, copy to the Director General, Labour Bureau |
Chapter VII: the Inspector-cum-Facilitator
Rules 51 to 59 cover the Inspector-cum-Facilitator and related officers. The Inspector-cum-Facilitator may ask for any record and record statements (rule 52). Samples are taken by a laboratory accredited with the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories on a notice to the employer in Form-20, in two sealed parts, one handed to the employer; the laboratory reports in Form-21 within seven days of completing the analysis, and the employer bears the cost (rule 53). The Inspector-cum-Facilitator may also photograph, inspect, test, prosecute and issue orders to other agencies (rule 54). Rule 58 lists dangerous occupations for medical examination, and rule 59 provides for certificates of fitness for adolescents in Form-22, valid twelve months.
Chapter VIII: employment of women (rule 60)
For employment of women at night, before 6.00 a.m. or beyond 7.00 p.m., the rule requires the woman's consent; no employment against the maternity benefit provisions of the Social Security Code; adequate transportation to and from her residence; a well-lit workplace and passages; toilets, washrooms and drinking facilities near the workplace; safe, secure and healthy conditions; not fewer than three women on duty in a below-ground mine; and compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.
A worked example
A boat-repair workshop in Kavaratti with 60 employees registers on the portal in Form 04 with Form 05 and pays the fee for the 51-100 band. A worker is injured and cannot work for forty-eight hours; the owner sends Form 9 to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within twenty-four hours after those forty-eight hours, enters it in the Form-16 register, and pays overtime to staff who work extra at twice the ordinary rate, with the Form-14 entries and signed overtime slips.
Common lapses
- Registering late and meeting a twenty five percent late fee.
- Reporting a fatal accident after twelve hours.
- Working staff on the first day of the week without delivering and displaying the notice.
- Not uploading the Form 19 annual return by 28th February.
Need help with Lakshadweep OSH compliance?
If your registration, accident-reporting steps, notices of work periods and registers need to be set up or reviewed against these rules, our labour law compliance service can map each duty to its form and time limit.
Key takeaways
- Rules notified 27 April 2026; they commence "on the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette".
- Registration in Form 04 with a headcount-based fee schedule and a twenty five percent late fee.
- Fatal accident: inform within twelve hours, confirm in Form 9 within twenty-four hours.
- Overtime at twice the ordinary rate; the two quarterly overtime ceilings printed differ.
- Annual return in Form 19 by 28th February.
Read next
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025: contract labour, migrant workers, factories and offences
- Code on Wages (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025: the notification, minimum wages, working hours and weekly rest
- Rule 64 of the Central OSH rules: working hours
- State rules under the four Labour Codes: which States have notified final rules
Disclaimer: Based on the State or Union territory rules named above, as notified under the Labour Codes and consulted on 4 October 2026. Later amendments, State notifications, fees and forms should be checked in the State Gazette and on the State labour department website. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.