Welcome to Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health

The Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health is a state-level directorate functioning under the Labour Department of the Government of Maharashtra. Its primary objective is to ensure safe, healthy, and dignified workplaces for workers and to effectively implement provisions related to occupational safety and health at workplaces.
In the initial period, the system of Chief Factory Inspectors was responsible for enforcing provisions related to the safety, health, and welfare of workers in factories. Along with the implementation of the Factories Act, 1948 and the Maharashtra Factories Rules, 1963, this system was also entrusted with enforcing provisions related to hazardous chemicals, chemical accidents, and the regulation of highly hazardous factories.
With the growing needs of industrialization, the role of the department was expanded beyond mere inspection and enforcement of laws to that of a friend, guide, and technical advisor. In this context, in June 1991, the Chief Inspectorate of Factories was renamed as the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health.
Later, after the implementation of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, the directorate acquired its present identity as the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health. Under the new legal framework, greater emphasis has been placed on guidance, facilitation, and promotion of compliance along with inspection, and the role of the inspector has evolved into that of an “Inspector-cum-Facilitator.”
Thus, the journey from “Chief Inspectorate of Factories→ Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health → Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health” and from “Inspector → Inspector-cum-Facilitator” is not merely a change in nomenclature, but a significant institutional transformation towards creating safe, healthy, and dignified workplaces.