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Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 · IV

Rule 16: Composition of Safety Committee in mines

Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last Reviewed 12 September 2026

Rule 16 — Governs composition of safety committee in mines and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this rule. Key operative text: – (1) The Safety Committee shall consist of an equal number of members representing the employer and the workers, which shall not exceed twenty.

Full notified rule textG.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026Source checked: 20 August 2026

2-minute answer

Rule 16: Composition of Safety Committee in mines explained with current labour-code/scheme context, eligibility or compliance steps, records to retain.

Current-law check: Reviewed for source/currentness on 12 September 2026. Re-check any later notification, circular, amendment, rate, deadline or portal instruction before acting.

How to use this page

Rule 16: Composition of Safety Committee in mines should be read with the operative Code/Scheme/Rules and the establishment or employee facts to which it applies. Coverage, wage base, service history, State overlay and commencement date can change the outcome.

Practical checklist

Confirm coverage of the establishment and employee/member before applying the provision.
Check the latest Gazette, corrigendum and portal/circular instructions for the relevant date.
Retain wage/service/member data, nominations, approvals, challans/returns and acknowledgements.
Where a State rule or establishment-specific exemption applies, document that overlay separately.

Worked use case

Example: the same employee event can produce a different compliance result if the establishment is exempt, the service period is different, or the operative rule changed after the relevant date. Record those facts before calculating the benefit or obligation.

Official-source checks

Related Finin2min guidance

Reviewed for currentness: 12 September 2026. Educational/professional reference; the controlling law, notification, order or official filing instruction prevails.

Rule status

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 were finally notified under G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026. The Central Rules must be read with the Code and any later amendment/corrigendum.

Official Gazette

Open the notified Rules ↗

Finin2min analysis — operative rule mechanics

Operative clauses

– (1) The Safety Committee shall consist of an equal number of members representing the employer and the workers, which shall not exceed twenty.
(2) The representative of the employer on safety committee, in the mine shall be nominated by the employer and shall, as far as possible, be officials in direct touch with or associated with the workings of the mine, preferably the heads of major departments of the mine and will consists of;
(a) the manager referred to in section 67 of the Code shall be the Chairman;
(c) the Safety Officer, or where there is no safety officer, the senior most official next to the manager, who shall act as Secretary to the Committee;
(3) The representative of the workers in the Safety Committee shall be chosen in the following manner, namely: - (a) where there is a sole negotiating union or a negotiating council or negotiating union, shall nominate the worker’s representatives on the Safety Committee and in the case of the negotiating council, the nomination shall be in the manner that every registered Trade Union representing in negotiating…

Provisos / explanations

Provided that, the employer may, deploy an electronic process for choosing representative of workers:

Thresholds & timelines

Mapped Code sections

Section 22

Full notified text — Rule 16

English rule text transcribed from the final official 2026 Gazette PDF; layout is normalised for web reading. The Gazette controls.

16. Composition of Safety Committee in mines. – (1) The Safety Committee shall consist of an equal number of members representing the employer and the workers, which shall not exceed twenty.
(2) The representative of the employer on safety committee, in the mine shall be nominated by the employer
and shall, as far as possible, be officials in direct touch with or associated with the workings of the mine,
preferably the heads of major departments of the mine and will consists of; (a) the manager referred to in section 67 of the Code shall be the Chairman; (b) five officials or competent persons of the mine nominated by the Chairman; (c) the Safety Officer, or where there is no safety officer, the senior most official next to the manager, who shall act as Secretary to the Committee; (3) The representative of the workers in the Safety Committee shall be chosen in the following manner, namely: - (a) where there is a sole negotiating union or a negotiating council or negotiating union, shall nominate the worker’s representatives on the Safety Committee and in the case of the negotiating council, the nomination shall be in the manner that every registered Trade Union representing in negotiating council shall be represented in the Safety Committee in proportion to the number of workers of the industrial establishment who are members of such Trade Unions. (b) where there is no sole negotiating union or negotiating union or negotiating council as referred to the clause (a), the workers of the establishment shall choose amongst themselves: Provided that, the employer may, deploy an electronic process for choosing representative of workers: Provided further that there shall be adequate representation of women workers on the Safety Committee and such representation shall not be less than the proportion of women workers to the total number of workers employed. Provided also that in case there is no recognised negotiating union or negotiating council and where any dispute arises regarding the choice of the representative to the Safety Committee, the matter may be referred to the concerned Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), who shall after hearing the parties decide the matter and the decision of Regional Labour Commissioner (Central) shall be final. Provided also that the workers representatives at least one each from mining, electrical and mechanical discipline shall be nominated or elected as the case may be: (c) the tenure of the members of the Safety Committee shall be three years.

Application and evidence

Primary statutory test — – (1) The Safety Committee shall consist of an equal number of members representing the employer and the workers, which shall not exceed twenty.
Additional operative limb — (2) The representative of the employer on safety committee, in the mine shall be nominated by the employer and shall, as far as possible, be officials in direct touch with or associated with the workings of the mine, preferably the heads of major departments of the mine and will consists of;
Qualification / exception to test — Provided that, the employer may, deploy an electronic process for choosing representative of workers:
Numerical or timing control — (c) the tenure of the members of the Safety Committee shall be three years.
Code Section mapping — 22. Read the mapped provision together with this text rather than treating the concordance as a substitute for it.
Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employer, Worker, Trade union.

Cross-references & prescribed forms

Sections cited/mapped

Section 22

Forms

No form is directly mapped in the current rule register.

Worked example

For an establishment affected by composition of safety committee in mines, the compliance owner should identify the applicable sector and authority, document the prescribed control/notice/record and retain inspection or training evidence. A text point to test is: “(c) the tenure of the members of the Safety Committee shall be three years.” Also test the express qualification/proviso before concluding the result. Reconcile the mapped Code Section(s) 22.

Illustrative only. Use the exact notified rule, prescribed form and competent authority.

Q&A — Rule 16

What is Rule 16 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026?

What does Rule 16 require or permit?

A principal operative clause extracted from the notified rule is: “– (1) The Safety Committee shall consist of an equal number of members representing the employer and the workers, which shall not exceed twenty.” Read it with all sub-rules and provisos below.

Does Rule 16 contain a proviso or explanation?

Yes. One extracted qualification is: “Provided that, the employer may, deploy an electronic process for choosing representative of workers:”

What deadline, period, percentage or amount appears in Rule 16?

The rule contains this numerical/time expression: “(c) the tenure of the members of the Safety Committee shall be three years.” Apply it only in its notified context.

Which Code sections are linked to Rule 16?

The current concordance maps Rule 16 to Section(s) 22.

When did Rule 16 come into force?

The final Central Rules were notified as G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026; Rule 1 states that the Rules come into force on publication. Check any later amendment or corrigendum before reliance.

Primary sources

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 — official Gazette PDF ↗

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — India Code ↗

Official sources checked: 12 September 2026.

Jurisdiction note: This is the Central Rules set. Check State rules/notifications where the State Government is the appropriate Government and check later Gazette amendments before acting.