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Section 72: Permissible limits of exposure of chemicals and toxic substances

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act No. 37 of 2020) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter X: Special Provisions for Factories, Mines & Plantations
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 37 of 2020
Section 71 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 73

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 72

Section 72 of the Code prohibits the exposure of workers to chemicals, toxic substances, and air contaminants in excess of the permissible limits of exposure prescribed in the Second Schedule or by administrative rules.

  • Strict Adherence to Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL): Establishes legally enforceable concentration thresholds (time-weighted averages and short-term exposure limits) for toxic chemicals, airborne dust, solvents, and gases in workroom environments.
  • Mandatory Air Monitoring & Surveillance Logs: Requires occupiers to conduct continuous or periodic air quality sampling at worker breathing zones, maintaining unalterable environmental logs for regulatory scrutiny.
  • Duty of Primary Engineering Control: Mandates that exposure limits must be maintained primarily through engineering controls (local exhaust ventilation, enclosure, process substitution) rather than mere reliance on personal protective equipment (PPE).
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Consumer Education & Research Centre v. Union of India (1995) 3 SCC 42: Apex Court held that exposing industrial workers to airborne asbestos fibers beyond internationally recognized threshold limit values violates Article 21 and warrants mandatory damages.
  • Occupational Health and Safety Association v. Union of India (2014) 3 SCC 547: Supreme Court mandated comprehensive occupational health surveillance and enforcement of permissible exposure limits for workers in thermal power stations.
  • Bhilwara Dugdh Utpadak Sahakari Samiti Ltd. v. Vinod Kumar Sharma (2011) 15 SCC 209: Reaffirmed that employers cannot bypass statutory safety standards by operating through contract laborers without personal protective gear.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Install continuous calibrated air quality analyzers with automated alarm interlocks in hazardous chemical storage and process bays. In the event of an excursion above prescribed PEL thresholds, processes must automatically trip to fail-safe mode.

Section 71 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 73