Second Schedule 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 Second Schedule to the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (the OSH Code) is a "List of matters" with 73 numbered items. It is headed "", the provision on occupational safety and health standards. It is the menu from which standards can be drawn: machinery, lifting, pressure plant, dock work, building work, fire, electricity, lightning and more. For help turning the list into a site checklist, our labour law compliance team can work through it with you.
The Second Schedule lists 73 matters for which occupational safety and health standards may be made under section 18. They run from fencing of machinery and pressure plant (items 1 to 25), through safety management in plantations (26), dock work (27 to 51) and building and construction work (52 to 69), to emergency standards, permissible exposure limits, lightning and any other matter the Central Government considers necessary (70 to 73). Section 131 lets the Central Government amend it by notification.
The Second Schedule at a glance
| Items | Theme | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 25 | Factory-style machinery, plant, building and general safety | Fencing of machinery; hoists and lifts; pressure plant; safety officers; safety committee; notice of accidents; court of inquiry |
| 26 | Plantations | Safety management in plantation |
| 27 to 51 | Dock work | Working places on shore and ship; lighting; ventilation; lifting appliances; dangerous substances; welfare; medical supervision; statements of accidents |
| 52 to 69 | Building and construction work | Scaffolding; demolition; explosives; hoists; lighting; dust and fumes; fire; electricity; safety nets and belts; safety policy |
| 70 to 73 | Factory hazard standards and residual | Emergency standards; permissible exposure limits; lightning; any other matter |
How the Schedule is used
Section 18 deals with occupational safety and health standards (see section 18). The Schedule's heading points to section 18(2)(f), so the 73 matters are the subject list the standards draw on. The Schedule itself sets no limits or specifications. Each item names a matter, for example "fencing of machinery", and the actual standard sits in the standards or rules made on that matter. The Schedule tells you where to look, and the standards tell you what to do.
The items are grouped below in the order printed. Grouping is ours; the Schedule has a single numbered list.
Items 1 to 25: general safety matters
These read like the matters of a factory safety chapter:
- Machinery: fencing of machinery (1); work on or near machinery in motion (2); employment of adolescents on dangerous machines (3); striking gear and devices for cutting off power (4); self-acting machines (5); casing of new machinery (6); revolving machinery (10).
- Persons near hazards: prohibition of employment of women, children and adolescents near cotton openers (7).
- Lifting: hoists and lifts (8); lifting machines, chains, ropes and lifting tackles (9).
- Plant: pressure plant (11).
- Workplace: floors, stairs and means of access (12); pits, sumps, openings in floors and similar indentation of area (13); safety of buildings and machinery (21); maintenance of buildings (22).
- Personnel and organisation: safety officers (14); safety committee (19).
- Health and hazards: protection of eyes (15); precautions against dangerous fumes, gases and similar (16); portable electric light (17); explosive or inflammable dust, gas and like dusts or gases (18).
- Powers and incidents: power to require specifications of defective parts or tests of stability (20); prohibition in certain cases of danger (23); notice in respect of accidents (24); court of inquiry in case of accidents (25).
Safety officers and committees connect to section 22 (see section 22) and accident notices to sections 10 and 11 (see sections 10 and 11).
Item 26: plantations
Item 26 is one entry: safety management in plantation. It links to the plantation provisions in sections 92 and 93 (see sections 92 and 93).
Items 27 to 51: dock work
Twenty-five items deal with dock work. They include:
| Item | Matter |
|---|---|
| 27 | General requirement for construction, equipment and maintenance for safety of working places on shore, ship, dock and structure |
| 28 | Safety of approaches over a dock, wharf or quay, and fencing |
| 29 | Efficient lighting of dock, ship and approaches |
| 30 | Ventilation and suitable temperature in buildings or enclosures on ship |
| 31 | Fire and explosion prevention and protection |
| 32 | Safe means of access to ships, holds, stagings and equipment |
| 33 | Lifting and cargo-handling appliances, pallets |
| 34 | Freight container terminals and terminals for unitised cargo |
| 35 | Fencing of machinery, live electrical conductors, steam pipes and hazardous openings |
| 36 | Staging |
| 37 | Rigging and use of ship's derricks |
| 38 | Testing, examination, inspection and certification of loose gears, chains, ropes and slings |
| 39 | Escape of workers from a hold, bin or hopper |
| 40 | Dangerous methods in stacking, unstacking, stowing and unstowing |
| 41 | Dangerous substances and harmful environments |
| 42 | Cleaning, chipping and painting operations |
| 43 | Persons handling cargo appliances, hatch covers and ship's equipment, and signalling |
| 44 | Transport of dock workers |
| 45 | Noise, vibration and air pollution |
| 46 | Protective equipment and clothing |
| 47 | Sanitary, washing and welfare facilities |
| 48 | Medical supervision |
| 49 | Ambulance rooms, first aid, rescue and removal for treatment |
| 50 | Investigation of accidents, dangerous occurrences and diseases; forms and time for notices |
| 51 | Statement of accidents, man-days lost, volume of cargo handled and particulars of dock workers |
Items 52 to 69: building and construction work
The eighteen items from 52 use "building workers" language in items such as 57 and 69 and cover work at height, demolition and heavy plant:
- Safe access and scaffolding where work cannot be done from the ground or a ladder (52); demolition under a competent person (53); explosives under competent control (54).
- Transporting equipment and competent drivers (55); hoists, lifting appliances and gear, periodic testing and competent persons (56).
- Lighting of workplaces, approaches and openings (57); prevention of inhalation of dust, fumes, gases and vapours, and ventilation of working places and confined spaces (58).
- Stacking and unstacking of materials (59); safeguarding machinery, fly-wheels and moving parts (60); plant and tools operated by compressed air (61).
- Fire (62); limits of weight to be lifted or moved (63); safe transport of workers by water and rescue from drowning (64).
- Live electric wires and overhead wires (65); safety nets, safety sheets and safety belts (66).
- Standards for scaffolding, ladders, stairs, lifting appliances, ropes, chains, earth-moving equipment and floating operational equipment (67).
- Pile driving, concrete work, hot asphalt and tar, insulation work, demolition, excavation, underground construction and handling materials (68).
- Safety policy framed by employers and contractors for operations in a building or other construction work (69).
Items 70 to 73: hazards, lightning and the residual item
- Item 70: emergency standards for enforcement of suitable standards in respect of hazardous processes in a factory (see sections 86 to 88).
- Item 71: maximum permissible threshold limits of exposure of chemical and toxic substances in manufacturing processes (whether hazardous or otherwise) in any factory.
- Item 72: lightning.
- Item 73: "any other matter which the Central Government considers under the circumstance for better working condition for safety at the workplace".
Item 73 is an open door. It means the Schedule is not a closed list in practice: the Central Government can add matters within the item itself, and can also amend the Schedule under section 131 (see sections 130 to 133).
Reading it with the rules
Many items have matching rules. For instance, safety officers (item 14) and safety committees (item 19) are in rules 14 to 21 of the Central Rules, 2026, and accident and disease notices in rules 7 and 8. Where the State Government is the appropriate Government, the State's rules apply. The Schedule lists the matters; it does not say which Government's standards bind you. Identify the appropriate Government first.
Example. A construction contractor reads items 52 to 69 as a checklist: scaffolding, lifting gear testing, safety nets and belts, lighting, and a written safety policy under item 69. It then looks at the matching standards and rules for each item before mobilising a site.
Need help turning the Schedule into a checklist?
If you run a factory, a dock, a plantation or a construction site, our labour law compliance team can match the relevant Second Schedule items to the standards and rules that apply to your site and prepare a working checklist.
Key takeaways
- The Second Schedule lists 73 matters on which occupational safety and health standards may be made under section 18.
- Items 1 to 25 are general factory-style safety matters; 26 is plantations; 27 to 51 dock work; 52 to 69 building and construction work; 70 to 73 hazard standards, lightning and a residual item.
- The Schedule names matters only; the actual requirements sit in standards and rules.
- Item 73 and section 131 allow the list to grow.
Read next
- Section 18: occupational safety and health standards
- First Schedule: list of hazardous industries
- Section 22: safety committee and safety officers
- BOCW Act: safety, health and welfare provisions at construction sites
Disclaimer: Based on the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026), as on 30 September 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; some provisions may be notified later, and State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government. Verify the current position before acting.