Yes, once they reach the age the rules set. Section 6(1)(c) of the OSH Code 2020 requires an employer to provide an annual health examination free of cost to the employees the appropriate government prescribes. Tamil Nadu's 2022 draft rules set it for every worker who has completed 45, each year within 120 days of 1 January. The contractor, as employer, arranges it for its crew.
Who qualifies, and when
It depends on which government's rules apply to the site. The Code leaves both the age and the class of employee to the rules, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment's Additional FAQs of 16 March 2026 confirm that where the Central and State thresholds differ, the Central rules apply where the Centre is the appropriate government and the State rules where the State is. For a factory or warehouse in Tamil Nadu, that is the State.
| Rules | Who is examined | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu draft OSH Rules 2022, r.6 | Every worker who has completed 45 years of age, by every employer | Annually, within 120 days of the start of each calendar year |
| OSH (Central) Rules 2026, r.5 | Employees who have completed 40 years of age, in dock work and building or other construction work | Annually |
The 120-day window means the examinations for a calendar year are due by the end of April. Under the Tamil Nadu draft the examination is done by a qualified medical practitioner on the proforma in Form III [VERIFY: whether Tamil Nadu's final OSH rules keep the age of 45 and the 120-day window]. The Central rule requires a certificate in Form VIII to both the employer and the employee, and lets the employer use the Employees' State Insurance Corporation's facilities for the examination.
Who arranges it for a contract crew
The contractor, as the workers' employer, with the site checking that it happened. The OSH Code defines the employer to include the contractor (s.2(1)(u)), and the Tamil Nadu draft puts the duty on "every employer" for "every worker". Nothing in the rule carves out a worker who is on a contractor's payroll rather than the site's, and the Ministry's January 2026 FAQs on the OSH Code say the Code covers all employees, naming annual health check-ups among the benefits fixed-term workers receive.
The site is not a bystander. Section 6(1)(h) makes the employer of a factory responsible for the safety and health of everyone on its premises, and a contract worker's health problem that goes unnoticed is a site problem as soon as it becomes an accident or an occupational disease. Which party books the clinic is for the contract between them to settle; the site's interest is in seeing the result.
Free means free
The worker pays nothing, for the examination or for any test it calls for. Section 6(1)(c) says "free of costs", and section 6(1)(g) separately bars any charge on an employee for anything done for safety and health, expressly "including conduct of medical examination and investigation for the purpose of detecting occupational diseases". A deduction from wages for a medical, or a fee collected at the clinic, is caught by both.
Hazardous work and occupational disease
The annual check-up is a floor, not the whole duty. Where a site runs a hazardous process or a dangerous operation, the schedules to the Tamil Nadu draft rules can add their own medical examinations and records for the workers exposed, regardless of age; the schedule on grinding or glazing of metals, for example, has a paragraph on medical facilities and records of examinations and tests. A contract crew put on that work needs those examinations as much as the site's own operators.
What an examination finds can trigger a notice. Section 12(1) of the Code requires the employer to notify the prescribed authorities when a worker contracts a disease in the Code's Third Schedule, and section 12(2) requires any qualified medical practitioner who attends such a worker to report it in writing to the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator. A practitioner who fails to report faces a penalty of up to ₹10,000 (s.12(3)). For a contract crew, the doctor's finding may reach the authorities before it reaches the site, which is one more reason for the site to see the results.
What a site should check
- Know who is 45 or over. Ask the contractor for the number of crew members who have completed 45, so the examination list can be checked against it.
- See the evidence each spring. By the end of April, the date of each examination and the practitioner who did it, on the prescribed form. A worker who turns 45 or joins later in the year should be on the next round's list.
- Confirm nobody paid. No deduction for medicals in the contractor's wage register, and no fee collected at the clinic.
- Add the hazardous-work examinations. Where a schedule applies, the examinations it requires for every exposed worker, contract or direct, belong in the same file.
How Velura Services helps
We track workers' ages on our registers and schedule the annual health check-ups the rules require for those who qualify, coordinated with your site so shifts are covered. The results stay confidential; you receive confirmation that each check was done.
Sources
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by DGFASLI — s.2(1)(u) (employer includes contractor), s.6(1)(c) (annual health examination free of costs), s.6(1)(g) (no charge, including medical examination for occupational diseases), s.6(1)(h) (responsibility for persons on the premises), s.12 (notice of occupational disease; practitioner's report; ₹10,000 penalty). Opened and read.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022 (draft), G.O. Ms. No. 38, 11 April 2022 — r.6 (annual examination of every worker who has completed 45, within 120 days of the start of each calendar year, Form III); schedules on hazardous processes and dangerous operations. Opened and read. Draft only.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) dated 8 May 2026 — r.5 (annual examination at 40 for dock and building or other construction work; Form VIII certificate to employer and employee; ESIC facilities). Opened and read from a mirrored copy of the Gazette [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, Additional FAQs on Labour Codes (as on 16 March 2026) — Q27 (which age threshold for annual health check-ups applies where Central and State rules differ). Opened and read.
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, FAQs on the OSH Code, 2020 (January 2026) — Q12 (the Code covers all employees, including fixed-term workers; annual health check-ups). Opened and read.