Suitable temperature and ventilation, safe drinking water within reach, and protection from extreme weather, which the OSH (Central) Rules 2026 say can mean changing working hours or supplying protective clothing free of charge. These are working conditions under section 23 of the OSH Code 2020, and section 53 makes the principal employer provide them to contract labour on its premises, not only to its own rolls.
What the rules require
A workplace that does not expose workers to excessive heat, and water they can reach. Section 6(1)(a) of the OSH Code makes every employer keep the workplace free from hazards likely to cause injury or occupational disease. Section 23 then lists the working conditions the Central Government prescribes, including ventilation, temperature and humidity, cooling of the air in work rooms, and potable drinking water. The OSH (Central) Rules 2026 turn those into specific duties for factories:
| Duty | What it says | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Suitable conditions kept by natural or artificial means, to avoid stagnant air, excessive heat or cold and sudden temperature changes | r.23(i) |
| Extreme weather | Workers protected "by suitably changing the working hours, providing protective clothes or other suitable provisions, as necessary free of charge" | r.23(iii) |
| Mechanical ventilation | Required where natural ventilation cannot supply enough fresh air | r.23(iv) |
| Temperature | Suitable for the type of work, with humidity kept for workers' comfort | r.23(vi) |
| Radiant heat | Workers protected from hot equipment, steam and hot-water pipes by insulation or other means | r.23(vii) |
| Drinking water | Clean, safe water readily accessible to all workers at all workplaces; non-piped supply in marked vessels, replenished daily | r.44(i)–(ii) |
| Lunchroom and rest room | A lunchroom with drinking water where more than 50 workers are ordinarily employed; rest rooms with walls and roof of heat-resisting material | r.56 |
Section 23 gives the power to prescribe these conditions to the Central Government, and Tamil Nadu's 2022 draft OSH rules carry no general heat or ventilation rule of their own [VERIFY: whether Central rules 23, 44 and 56 apply to establishments for which the State is the appropriate government].
Who provides it when the crew is a contractor's
The principal employer, for anything tied to the premises. Section 53 of the OSH Code says the welfare facilities of sections 23 and 24 "shall be provided by the principal employer" to contract labour employed in the establishment. Rule 86(1)(iii) of the Central rules repeats it as a licence condition: where contract labour works at the principal employer's premises, the principal employer provides toilets, washrooms, drinking water, first aid, canteen and crèche. Water points, ventilation, cooling and rest areas on the floor and the dock are the site's to provide for everyone working there.
Working hours are where the two meet. A contractor's crew works the site's shift pattern, so moving shifts earlier in the summer is a change the site plans and the contractor puts into effect, with the notice of periods of work updated before the change. Protective items issued to the worker, such as caps or cooling towels, follow the same split the site already uses for personal protective equipment.
What the government asks for in a heatwave
More than the rules, through advisories. On 28 April 2026 the Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a nationwide heatwave advisory asking States and Union Territories to direct employers, occupiers, industries and construction companies to act. It asks employers to ensure adequate drinking water, provide rest areas, cool workplaces, reschedule working hours and arrange regular health check-ups with the Health Department. ESIC hospitals were asked to set up heatstroke help desks and stock oral rehydration salts and ice packs, and States to report action taken every fortnight.
An advisory is not a rule, but it tells a site what an inspector will look for in May, and States act on it. In Tamil Nadu, open construction work was barred between 10 am and 4 pm by a State notification of 9 May 2024 [VERIFY: reported by secondary sources; the notification itself was not opened]. A factory or warehouse is not construction, but the same hours are the hottest on a metal-roofed dock.
What a site can do before the summer
- Water at every work area, not only the canteen. Points on the floor and at the dock, refilled through each shift, marked as safe to drink, with cups or a rising jet rather than a shared tumbler (r.44).
- Shift times moved before the heat, not during it. Starts brought forward and the midday window shortened, agreed with the contractor and posted on the notice of periods of work before the change takes effect.
- A cool place to stop. A shaded or ventilated rest area within reach of the floor, with water, and a rest room built or lined to keep heat out (r.56).
- A ventilation check on roofed spaces. Warehouses and docks under metal roofs, where natural ventilation is weakest, assessed for mechanical ventilation or fans before April (r.23(iv)).
- Pairs, not lone workers, in the hottest jobs. The ministry's advisory suggests two-person crews where continuous work in heat cannot be avoided [VERIFY: in secondary reports of the advisory, not in the News On AIR report].
- Heat illness in the induction. Every new starter, contract crews included, told the signs, where water and shade are, and the nearest ESIC dispensary.
Whether a specific arrangement meets the rules on a given site is for its safety officer and counsel; the list above is the practice that most sites build from.
How Velura Services helps
We brief crews on heat risk, schedule rest and hydration breaks with your site, and adjust rosters during heatwave advisories. Our supervisors report heat-related illness at once, and we plan the extra cover hot months need so breaks are actually taken.
Sources
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by DGFASLI — s.6(1)(a) (hazard-free workplace), s.23 (health and working conditions: ventilation, temperature, cooling, drinking water), s.53 (principal employer provides s.23 and s.24 facilities to contract labour). Opened and read.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) dated 8 May 2026 — r.23 (ventilation, temperature and humidity in factories), r.44 (potable water), r.56 (shelters, rest rooms and lunchrooms), r.86(1)(iii) (facilities at the principal employer's premises). Opened and read from a mirrored copy of the Gazette [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
- Government issues nationwide heatwave advisory to safeguard workers, News On AIR, 28 April 2026 — the Ministry of Labour and Employment's advisory to States and Union Territories. Opened and read; the advisory text itself was not located [VERIFY: against the ministry's own copy].
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022 (draft), G.O. Ms. No. 38, 11 April 2022 — searched for a general heat, temperature or ventilation rule; none found outside process-specific schedules. Opened and read. Draft only.