66E. [ (1) Safety Officer. [Inserted by Punjab Government Notification No. G.S.R. 94/C.A.63/48/Section 112/Amd. (20)/84, dated 31st October, 1984.]
- There shall be one Safety Officer for factories employing between one thousand and two thousand workers. There shall be an additional Safety Officer for every two thousand workers or a fraction thereof in excess of two thousand workers.(2)Qualifications. - (a) A person shall not be eligible for appointment as a Safety Officer, unless he -(i)possesses a degree of a recognised university or institution in any branch of Engineering or Technology and has practical experience of working in a factory in a supervisory capacity for a period of not less than two years or possesses a degree in Physics or Chemistry from a recognised university or institution and has practical experience of working in a factory in a supervisory capacity for a period of not less than five years, or possesses a recognised diploma in any branch of engineering or technology and has practical experience of working in a factory in a supervisory capacity for a period of not less than five years;(ii)possesses a degree or diploma in industrial safety recognised by the State Government in this behalf; and(iii)has adequate knowledge of language spoken by majority of the workers in the region in which the factory where he is to be appointed, is situated;(b)Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (a), any person who -(i)possesses a degree or diploma in Engineering or Technology of a recognised university or institution and has experience of not less than five years in a department of the Central Government or State Government which deals with the administration of the Factory Act, 1948 or the Indian Dock Labourers Act, 1934, or(ii)possesses a degree or diploma in Engineering or Technology of a recognised university or institution and has experience of not less than five years of full time of training, education, consultancy, or research in the field of accident prevention in an industry or in any institution, shall also be eligible for appointment as a Safety Officer:Provided that the Chief Inspector may, subject to such conditions as he may specify, grant exemption from the requirements of this sub-rule, if in his opinion, a suitable person possessing the necessary qualifications and experience is not available for appointment:Provided further that in the case of a person who has been working as a Safety Officer in a factory for a period of not less than three years on the date of commencement of these rules, the Chief Inspector may, subject to conditions as he may specify, relax all or any of the abovesaid qualifications.(3)Conditions of Service. - (a) Where more than one Safety Officers are appointed in a factory, one of them shall be designated as the Chief Safety Officer and shall be the overall incharge of the safety functions as envisaged in sub-rule (4).(b)The Chief Safety Officer or the Safety Officer in the case of factories where only one Safety Officer is required to be appointed, shall be given the status of a senior executive and shall work directly under the control of the Chief Executive of the factory.(c)The scales of pay and the allowances to be granted to the Safety Officers including the Chief Safety Officer, and the other conditions of their service shall be the same as those of the other officers of corresponding status in the factory.(d)Against the order of dismissal or discharge, a Safety Officer shall have a right of appeal to the Government.(4)Duties of Safety Officer. - (a) The duties of a Safety Officer shall be to advise and assist the factory management in the fulfilment of its obligations, statutory or otherwise, concerning prevention of personal injuries and maintenance of a safe working environment.(b)Without prejudice to the generality of duties in clause (a) a Safety Officer shall have the following duties, namely :-(i)to advise the concerned department in planning and organising measures necessary for the effective control of personal injuries;(ii)to advise on safety aspects in all job studies, and to carry out detailed job safety studies of selected jobs;(iii)to check and evaluate the effectiveness of the action taken or proposed to be taken to prevent personal injuries;(iv)to advise the purchase and stores departments in ensuring high quality and availability of personal protective equipment;(v)to advise on matters relating to plant safety (infections ?);(vi)to carry out plant safety inspections in order to observe the physical conditions of work and the work practices and procedures followed by workers and to render advice on measures to be adopted for removing the unsafe physical conditions, and preventing unsafe actions by workers;(vii)to render advice on matters relating to reporting and investigation of industrial accidents and occupational diseases;(viii)to investigate accidents;(ix)to investigate the cases of occupational diseases contracted and dangerous occurrences reportable under rule 103;(x)to advise on the maintenance of such records as are necessary relating to accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases;(xi)to promote setting up of safety committees and act as adviser and convener to such committees;(xii)to organise in association with the concerned departments of the factory campaigns, competitions, contests and other activities which will develop and maintain the interest of the workers in establishing and maintaining safe conditions of work and procedures; and(xiii)to design and conduct either independently or in collaboration with the training department of the factory, suitable training and educational programmes for the prevention of personal injuries.(5)Facilities to be provided to Safety Officers. - An occupier of the factory shall provide each Safety Officer with such facilities, equipment and information as are necessary to enable him to discharge his duties effectively.(6)Prohibition of performance of other duties. - No Safety Officer shall be required or permitted to do any work which is inconsistent with or detrimental to the performance of the duties prescribed in sub-rule (4).]
