India’s petroleum sector has entered a new era of safety and worker protection with the rollout of four major labour codes, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code, the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations (IR) Code and the Social Security Code. These new laws replace several outdated and scattered rules that had governed the petroleum industry for decades.
According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the new system creates a single, modern and technology-driven framework to ensure safer workplaces, better health monitoring and easier compliance for companies involved in handling highly flammable and toxic materials. For ordinary workers and their families, the new codes are expected to significantly improve safety standards, reduce risks and make social security benefits more accessible and transparent.
India’s petroleum sector includes refineries, oil fields, offshore platforms, LPG bottling plants, petroleum depots, large storage facilities, pipeline networks and LNG terminals. These workplaces deal with dangerous substances such as LPG, LNG, crude vapours, benzene, hydrogen sulfide and several other hazardous chemicals that can cause fires, explosions and severe health issues. Despite these risks, most of the safety regulations in the past were based on the Factories Act, 1948, a law that was written long before India built complex refineries, high-capacity pipelines or modern fuel storage hubs. This mismatch between old laws and modern operations led to a wide gap in safety standards. Emergency planning remained inconsistent, the monitoring of worker exposure was weak, documentation stayed mostly on paper and companies had to repeatedly navigate overlapping approvals from multiple authorities. Because inspections were not risk-based, even high-risk facilities did not always get the specialised oversight they needed. As a result, petroleum establishments operated with a patchwork of rules that could not match the scale, technology or hazards of the modern oil and gas industry.
The OSHWC Code, 2020 brings a major change by creating a single national safety framework for all petroleum-related operations. One of the most important shifts is the move from routine inspections to risk-based inspections. Instead of checking all units on a fixed schedule, authorities will now inspect facilities based on their risk profile. High-risk sites such as refineries, LNG terminals and large tanker operations will undergo more frequent and detailed inspections, while lower-risk units will have fewer but more meaningful assessments.
Before any petroleum operation begins, companies must now conduct structured risk assessments, including hazard identification, safety audits and compliance with national safety standards for storing, transporting and handling petroleum products. This approach is already followed in major oil-producing regions around the world and is expected to bring India closer to global practices.
Another important part of the OSHWC Code is the expansion of health surveillance for workers. Petroleum workers face long-term risks from chemical vapours, toxic gases and other exposure-related hazards. Under the new law, pre-employment medical tests, routine health check-ups, post-exposure examinations and annual medical screenings are now mandatory for workers who handle hazardous substances. These tests must be provided free of cost. Certain categories of workers, such as pregnant women and adolescents, also receive additional protection from exposure to harmful substances. This systematic focus on medical monitoring is expected to help detect occupational diseases earlier and reduce long-term health damage.
Training and worker competency are also treated more strictly under the new code. Workers can no longer operate petroleum equipment or handle hazardous materials without proper training and certification. Safety equipment standards that were earlier treated as guidelines now carry legal force, making it compulsory for employers to provide high-quality protective gear. Continuous-process units such as refineries and petrochemical plants must follow an eight-hour shift limit so that fatigue does not cause operational errors. This directly addresses the risk of accidents caused by long working hours, which have been a concern in petroleum operations across the world.
Compliance is also becoming simpler and more transparent. The older inspector-centric system is being replaced by a facilitator-based approach, where digital submissions, single-window approvals and online records reduce delays and cut down unnecessary visits by officials. Companies will now maintain electronic records of safety audits, worker registers and compliance documents. This reduces paperwork and allows regulators to track violations easily. For the first time, petroleum establishments will follow a unified, tech-enabled system instead of juggling separate state and central requirements.
The Social Security Code brings another big change by expanding Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) coverage to a larger share of petroleum workers. This is especially important because workers in refineries, bottling plants and petroleum depots face higher risks of accidents and occupational diseases. ESIC provides medical treatment, disability benefits, maternity support, compensation for workplace injuries and financial protection for the worker’s family.
The code also introduces portable digital social security accounts, meaning workers do not lose their benefits when they change contractors, sites or job roles. Earlier, benefits were often disrupted when workers moved between units. Now, with digital accounts, benefits follow workers seamlessly throughout their careers.
All these changes matter because they bring predictability and consistency to a sector that previously operated under fragmented rules. Risk-based inspections ensure that the most dangerous units receive the highest level of scrutiny. Digitised compliance reduces delays and reduces the possibility of corruption or manipulation. Stronger medical surveillance ensures that workers exposed to petroleum vapours, benzene or toxic gases receive timely health care and regular monitoring. Mandatory training and certification mean that only qualified workers will operate complex petroleum machinery, reducing the chances of accidents caused by human error.
Overall, the new labour codes achieve what the older system could not. They unify dozens of scattered laws into one streamlined framework, improve monitoring of chemical exposure, simplify the approval process, strengthen social security and align Indian petroleum safety standards more closely with international norms.
For the petroleum sector, this overhaul is not just a legal reform but a major step towards creating safer workplaces. For workers, it means better protection, clearer rights, and long-term health safeguards in one of India’s most hazardous industries.
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