Section 13: Duties of employee
Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 30 August 2026
Section 13 — Governs duties of employee and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this section. Key operative text: —Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;
All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.
Provision / India Code ↗ · Official Act PDF ↗ · 2026 Central Rules ↗
Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does
Operative clauses
- —Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;
- (d) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable, report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative and in case of mine, agent or manager referred to in section 67, safety officers or an official for his workplace or section thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer in the manner as may be prescribed by the…
- (f) not do, wilfully and without reasonable cause, anything, likely to endanger himself or others; and (g) perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.
Provisos, explanations & qualifications
- No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this section text.
Thresholds and timelines in the text
- No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this section text.
Actors expressly appearing in the text
Employer, Employee / worker, Worker, Appropriate Government
Full statutory text — Section 13
13. Duties of employee. —Every employee at workplace shall,—
(a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be
affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;
(b) comply with the safety and health requirements specified in the standards;
(c) co-operate with the employer in meeting the statutory obligations of the employer under this
Code;
(d) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable,
report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative and in case of mine,
agent or manager referred to in section 67, safety officers or an official for his workplace or section
thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer in the manner as may be prescribed by
the appropriate Government;
(e) not wilfully interfere with or misuse or neglect any appliance, convenience or other thing
provided at workplace for the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of workers;
(f) not do, wilfully and without reasonable cause, anything, likely to endanger himself or others;
and
(g) perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.How to apply this provision
- Primary statutory test — —Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;
- Additional operative limb — (d) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to his attention, as soon as practicable, report such situation to his employer or to the health and safety representative and in case of mine, agent or manager referred to in section 67, safety officers or an official for his workplace or section thereof, as the case may be, who shall report it to the employer in the manner as may be prescribed by the…
- Central Rule mapping — 9. 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, Employee / worker, Worker, Appropriate Government.
Rules, forms and cross-references
Direct 2026 Central Rule mapping
Forms mapped
No prescribed form is directly mapped in the current concordance.
Other sections cited in this text
Related Labour Hub resources
A direct concordance is not exhaustive. Central/State jurisdiction, schemes, authority appointments, saved instruments and later notifications may change the practical route without changing the section wording.
Worked example
For an establishment affected by duties of employee, 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: “—Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;” Read the mapped Central Rule(s) 9.
Illustration only; it is not statutory text or a substitute for applying the actual facts, jurisdiction, current rule/scheme and official instrument.
Q&A — Section 13
What does Section 13 of the OSHWC Code cover?
Section 13 — Governs duties of employee and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this section. Key operative text: —Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;
What is the main legal requirement or power in Section 13?
The first operative clause identified from the official text is: “—Every employee at workplace shall,— (a) take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at the workplace;” Read it with the remaining subsections and any proviso below.
Does Section 13 contain a proviso or explanation?
No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this section text. Check the full text below for clause-level qualifications.
What time limit, percentage or amount appears in Section 13?
No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in the official section text.
Which 2026 Central Rules are linked to Section 13?
The current concordance maps Section 13 to Central Rule(s) 9.
Is Section 13 currently operative?
All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.
Source & verification trail
Act: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — official India Code PDF ↗
Central Rules: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026 ↗
Official library: Ministry of Labour & Employment — Labour Codes ↗
Source check: 20 August 2026. Individual professional interpretation should be re-reviewed when the section, rules, notification, scheme, State overlay or controlling judgment changes.