Now, industrial units can self-certify compliance status

NT NETWORK

Panaji

As a step towards enhancing ease of doing business in the state, the government has allowed industrial units to self-certify their compliance with various statutory requirements under the Factories Act 1948.

Henceforth unit owners can self-certify online their compliance with various regulations under the Goa Factories Rules, 1985, so as to avoid unnecessary paperwork by way of maintenance of registers and frequent enforcement visits by inspectors.

The scheme is for all factories employing up to 50 workers and above, except for factories categorised as major accident hazards units and coming under the Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989.

To be eligible, unit owners have to register under the scheme and pay the requisite fee which varies between Rs 10,000 to Rs 70,000, depending on the number of workers employed in the unit.

The self-certification is valid for five years and after the completion of the tenure, the unit owner is permitted to renew the registration for further five years.

Once a unit is permitted to self-certify, it is exempted from maintaining physical books relating to register of child workers, register of accidents, inspection book in form no 38, record of washing, painting, record of humidity levels, etc.

According to the inspectorate of factories and boilers, the self-certification scheme will reduce visits of the inspectors for inspection of factories without compromising on safety, health and welfare of workers. Further it will also achieve the objective of simplifying business regulations and bring in transparency and accountability in inspections.

To prevent misuse, the inspectorate will randomly select 25 per cent of factories covered under the scheme and subject them to inspection once in a year. An inspection report for compliance will be issued to the unit in 48 hours.

The government can initiate legal action against units that falsely self-certify compliances. Once inspected, the same factory will not be inspected again during remaining period of the validity of the scheme unless there is a fatal accident or accident causing serious bodily injury. Further, if a unit is found to be violating the compliances it ceases to be a part of the scheme.

The self-certification scheme was notified on May 21, and is in force with immediate effect.

The government also implemented a similar self-certification scheme for factories in the state coming under the Boilers Act, 1923.