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Legal requirements in EHS

Dr. Dileep N Andhare

Lead auditor & trainer QMS
EMS & OHSAS
DNV-GL Business Assurance India Pvt Ltd

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Legal language baffles most of us. However….

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Compliance with relevant laws & regulations: A basic premise

• Quality management systems — Requirements
• 1 Scope This International Standard specifies requirements for a quality
management system when an organization: a) needs to demonstrate its
ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer
and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and b) aims to
enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the
system, including processes for improvement of the system and the
assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and
regulatory requirements.
• All the requirements of this International Standard are generic and are
intended to be applicable to any organization, regardless of its type or size,
or the products and services it provides.
• NOTE 1 In this International Standard, the terms “product” or “service”
only apply to products and services intended for, or required by, a
customer.
• NOTE 2 Statutory and regulatory requirements can be expressed as legal
3 requirements.
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• Environmental management systems — Requirements with

guidance for use
• 1 Scope
• This International Standard specifies requirements for an
environmental management system to enable an organization
to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take
into account legal requirements and other requirements to
which the organization subscribes, and information about
significant environmental aspects. It applies to those
environmental aspects that the organization identifies as
those which it can control and those which it can influence. It
does not itself state specific environmental performance
criteria.
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• Similarly, OHSAS 18001 expects organizations to comply with

all relevant legal requirements.
• It is thus clear that organizations intending to adopt any of the
management system certifications can not do so unless there
is commitment to legal compliance.
• Legal compliance, however, is a must for any organization
whether or not it is certified for one or more management
systems.
• In this session, we will focus on EHS legal requirements

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Basics first… Statutory & regulatory

A statutory requirement is a requirement written into a law

passed by a legislative body, while regulatory requirements are
those requirements made by a government agency in
accordance with the law.

Who make the laws?

Law-makers i.e. parliament or state assemblies

What is a bill?
The draft of a law which is considered and passed by the
legislatures
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 Definitions from ISO 9000:2015
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• 3.6.4 requirement: need or expectation that is stated,

generally implied or obligatory

• 3.6.6 statutory requirement: obligatory requirement (3.6.4)

specified by a legislative body

• 3.6.7 regulatory requirement: obligatory requirement

(3.6.4) specified by an authority mandated by a legislative
body

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Act & rule…

• Factories Act: Passed by Parliament of India in 1948 and
amended from time to time

• Based on the act, states have framed rules (e.g. Gujarat

Factories Rules, Maharashtra Factories rules etc)

• Regulatory authorities (Chief Inspectors of Factories or

Directors of Industrial Safety & Health, Pollution control
boards) are agencies empowered to enforce the rules in their
jurisdiction

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IS 15793:2007
• Indian Standard
MANAGING ENVIRONMENT, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND
SAFETY LEGAL COMPLIANCE—REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD
PRACTICES
• BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS

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• This Indian Standard was adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards, after the draft
finalized by the Occupational Health and Safety and Chemical Hazards Sectional
Committee had been approved by the Chemical Division Council.
• A Committee under the Chairmanship of Member (Industry), Planning Commission,
recommended to put in place a mechanism for third party inspection to allow enterprises
an option to get their legal compliance verified by an external organization. Accordingly
this standard has been formulated with the aim to develop a system for auditing an
organization by an external organization to verify the good practices established for
managing compliance for all applicable legislations related to environment, occupational
health and safety. This standard will help the regulators and those organizations who have
some difficulties in implementing full fledged international/national management system
standards (like IS/ISO 14001, IS 18001, etc) for certification. The standard would:
• provide an option to the industry for demonstrating compliance with the regulatory
requirements related to environment, occupational health and safety by following good
practices as prescribed in this standard through verification by an external organization;
• serve as a tool for enhancing the effectiveness of the legal compliance; and
10 • promote a system approach.
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Some acts, rules & amendments related to safety, health &

environment (Source: IS 15973)
• The Factories Act, 1948 (Amended 1987 & 2001) and the State
Factories Rules of respective States
• The Mines Act, 1952 (Amended 1984)
• The Mines Rules, 1955 (Amended 1989)
• The Coal Mines Regulations, 1957
• The Metallic-Ferrous Mines Regulation, 1961
• Mines Vocational Rules, 1966
• The Oil Mines Regulations, 1984 (Amended 1996)
• The Mines Rescue Rules, 1985
• The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
• The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare)
11 Regulations, 1989
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• Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment

& Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
• Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment
& Conditions of Service) Central Rules, 1998
• The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 & the Rules & Regulations
• The Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996
and Rules 1998
• Indian Port Act, 1908 and Rules thereunder
• The Shops and Commercial Establishment Acts enacted by respective
State Governments
• The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 & Rules 1924
• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
• The Employees’ State Insurance Act & Rules
• The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 & Rules, 1964
• The Electricity Act, 2003
12 • The Indian Electricity Rules, 1956
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• The Indian Boilers Act, 1923 (Amended 1960)

• The Indian Boilers Regulations, 1950 (Amended 1997)
• Boilers Rules of various States
• The Dangerous Machines (Regulation) Act, 1983
• The Fatal Accidents Act, 1855
• The Explosives Act, 1884 (Amended 1983)
• The Explosives Rules, 1983 (Amended 2002)
• The Gas Cylinders Rules, 2004
• The Static and Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 1981
(Amended 2002)
• The Petroleum Act, 1934
• The Petroleum Rules, 2002
• The Calcium Carbide Rules, 1987
13 • The Insecticides Act, 1968 & Rules, 1971
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• The Poison’s Act, 1919 & Rules, 1972

• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Amended 1991)
• The Environment Protection Rules, 1986 (Amended 2006)
• The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 (Amended
2003)
• The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989
(Amended 1994/2000)
• The Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro-
organisms, Genetically Engineered Micro-organisms or Cells Rules, 1989
• Environmental (Protection) Rules - “Environmental Statement” 1992/1993
• Environmental (Protection) Rules - “Environmental Standards “ 1993
• Environmental (Protection) Rules - “Environmental Clearance” 1994
• Environment (Protection) Rules - “Environmental Standards “ 1996
• Prohibition on the Handling of Azodyes, 1997
• Amendments in the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1994—“Public
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Hearing”, 1997
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• The Environment (Protection) Rules—Coal Beneficiation, 1997

• Environment (Protection) Second Amendment Rules—“Environmental
Standards” 1999
• The Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response)
Rules, 1996
• Major Accidents Hazard Control Rules, 1997
• The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998
• The Noise (Regulation and Control) Rules, 20005
• The Ozone Depleting Substance (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000
• Battery Management and Handling Rules, 2001
• The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 & Rules, 1991
• The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995
• National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1998
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & Rules, 1975
15 • The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
& Rules, 1978
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• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 &

Rules, 1982/1983
• Drugs & Cosmetics Acts & Rules, 1995
• Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
• Motor Vehicles (Central) Rules, 1989

• A long but not exhaustive list!

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Classification… (Source: Sheel Technologies:

www.sheeltechnologies.com)

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Ignorance is NOT a bliss when it comes to law!

• How to find your way in this maize and stay on right side of
the law?

• A scheme suggested by IS 15793

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Relevant clauses of EMS & OHSAS

• EMS 4.3.2 (2004 version) Legal and other requirements

• The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a
procedure(s)
• a) to identify and have access to the applicable legal
requirements and other requirements to which the organization
subscribes related to its environmental aspects, and
• b) to determine how these requirements apply to its
environmental aspects.
• The organization shall ensure that these applicable legal
requirements and other requirements to which the organization
subscribes are taken into account in establishing, implementing
and maintaining its environmental management system.
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• EMS 2015 version:6.1.3 Compliance obligations The

organization shall:
• a) determine and have access to the compliance obligations
related to its environmental aspects;
• b) determine how these compliance obligations apply to the
organization.
• c) take these compliance obligations into account when
establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually
improving its environmental management system
• The organization shall maintain documented information of its
compliance obligations.
• NOTE Compliance obligations can result in risks and
opportunities to the organization
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• OHSAS: 4.3.2 Legal and other requirements The organization

shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) for
identifying and accessing the legal and other OH&S
requirements that are applicable to it.
• The organization shall ensure that these applicable legal
requirements and other requirements to which the
organization subscribes are taken into account in establishing,
implementing and maintaining its OH&S management system.
The organization shall keep this information up-to-date.
• The organization shall communicate relevant information on
legal and other requirements to persons working under the
control of the organization, and other relevant interested
parties.
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• EMS: 4.5.2.1 (2004 version) Consistent with its commitment

to compliance, the organization shall establish, implement
and maintain a procedure(s) for periodically evaluating
compliance with applicable legal requirements.

• The organization shall keep records of the results of the

periodic evaluations.

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• EMS (2015 version): 9.1.2 Evaluation of compliance The

organization shall establish, implement and maintain the
processes needed to evaluate fulfilment of its compliance
obligations.
• The organization shall:
• a) determine the frequency that compliance will be evaluated;
• b) evaluate compliance and take action if needed;
• c) maintain knowledge and understanding of its compliance
status
• The organization shall retain documented information as
evidence of the compliance evaluation result(s).
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• OHSAS: 4.5.2 Evaluation of compliance 4.5.2.1 Consistent

with its commitment to compliance [see 4.2c)], the
organization shall establish, implement and maintain a
procedure(s) for periodically evaluating compliance with
applicable legal requirements (see 4.3.2).

• The organization shall keep records of the results of the

periodic evaluations. NOTE The frequency of periodic
evaluation may vary for differing legal requirements.

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Coming back to IS 15793

S Products, Legislatio Date Validity Referenc Person Freque Reference
N processes n on OHS of date e of responsi ncy of to
o or effec from to applicabl ble for reporti procedure
services t e chapter complian ng and
/ Sec / ce control
rule monitori
ng

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Some important EHS legislations in India

• Factories Act
• Workmen Compensation Act
• ESIS Act
• Mines Act
• Dock Worker’s Act
• MSIHC (Manufacture, Storage & Import of hazardous
chemicals)
• Environment Protection Act

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Factories Act, 1948 (Extends to entire country)

• XI Chapters
• Chapter III Health, IV Safety (Chapter IV A added after Bhopal
Gas Tragedy, 1987 amendment)
• 120 sections
• 3 schedules
• I: List of hazardous processes (29)
• II: Permissible limits of certain substances (116)
• III: List of notifiable diseases (29): Under revision
• Factory: Any establishment using power with 10 or more
workers OR
• 20 or more workers where no power is used
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Environment Protection Act, 1986 (Extends to whole of India)

• 4 chapters
• 26 sections
• Umbrella legislation

• The Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

• The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

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Some examples of compliance requirements

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Some rights
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Air Act
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BMW
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Water Act
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Some vital documents for EHS compliance

• Factory Licence
• Consent to establish / operate
• Structural stability
• Various returns and forms (many of them now online such as
Environmental statement)
• ROR (Register of regulatory requirements)
• USA (OSHA), HSE (UK)
• RoHS, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and
restriction on Chemicals), Environment treaties (recent Paris
summit)

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Bottom line….
• Management system certification is voluntary

• Legal compliance is NOT a matter of choice

• Ignorance is NOT an excuse

• Keeping up to date regarding statutory and regulatory

requirements is management’s responsibility (reason why
many organizations opt for a software to manage compliance)

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Thanks for your attention!