Rule 25. Qualifications and experience, duties and responsibilities of Empanelled Experts under Section 37

(1) The State Government or Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator shall advertise to invite applications from experts with required qualification and experience for the purpose of such start-up establishments or class of establishment to be notified separately by the Government.

(2) The Departmental Committee for Empanelment of Third Party Auditors shall from time to time fix the total number of such Safety Auditors to be recognized depending on the total quantum of work available in the State and also the manner in which applications are to be invited.

(3) On the basis of applications received a committee of experts to select the panel of experts shall be formed under the chairmanship of the Labour Commissioner / Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

(4) The experts empanelled shall inspect, advise health and safety provisions to minimize the accidents, perform safety audit, may organize safety training programs and provide certificates to the trainees and may also provide the certificates to concerned establishments.

(5) The experts empanelled shall:-

(a) be assigned the third party audit and certification in a randomized manner, by the appropriate Government through a web-based scheme;

(b) carry out the audit and certification in the manner and for the purpose specified in the scheme referred to in sub-rule (5) (a);

(c) perform such duties as may be specified in such scheme and submit his report to the concerned employer and to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

(6) The Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator may, after giving an opportunity of being heard to the person recognized as a 'Third Party Auditor cum Expert' revoke the certificate issued to him.

(a) if he has reason to believe that the Third Party Auditor :

(i) has violated any of the conditions stipulated in the recognition;

(ii) has carried out audit, test, examination and inspection or was otherwise carried in a manner inconsistent with the intent or the purpose of the Code or the Rules made there under; or

(iii) has violated the provisions of the Code and the Rules made there under;

(b) for any other reason to be recorded in writing.

(7) Eligibility Conditions for the Firm applying for the post of expert:-

(a) A Firm should be registered body corporate in India under appropriate legal framework, such as the Companies Act etc.

(b) The Firm should be registered with the Labour Department of the State.

(c) It should have experience and authorization to undertake and evaluate labour regulatory compliance.

(d) The Firm should have the Labour Law Auditor and Technical Auditor on its pay-roll.

(8) Eligibility Conditions of Labour Law Auditor:-

(a) Should have minimum experience of seven years under Labour Law; or

(b) Should have minimum experience of seven years as legal practitioner under Labour Law or served as Labour Officer for seven years; and

(c) Should not currently be a part-time or full-time employee in any establishment in the State of Arunachal Pradesh or its subsidiaries or branches anywhere in the country; and

(d) Should not be more than sixty-five years of age; and

(e) Should be medically fit to carry out inspections of the establishments.

(9) Eligibility Conditions of Technical Auditor:-

(a) Degree in any branch of Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical or Production Engineering and having five year experience in manufacturing, maintenance, design, project or safety department in supervisory or above capacity in factories; or

(b) Diploma in any branch of Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical or Production Engineering and having seven year experience in manufacturing, maintenance, design, project or safety department in supervisory or above capacity in factories; or

(c) Degree of Bachelor of Science with Physics or Chemistry and having seven year experience in manufacturing or safety.

(10) Individual Experts: Individuals possessing the qualification at (8) and (9) above will be eligible to apply for the post of expert.

(11) Duties and Responsibilities of Empanelled Experts:-

(a) Safety Auditor shall maintain a log book of all safety audits undertaken by him indicating the name and address of the audited establishment, name of the person who has carried out safety audit, contact persons, date of the audit and date of submission of the audit report to the Occupier.

(b) It shall be scrutinized and approved by jurisdictional Inspector-cum-Facilitator of the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator’s office.

(c) Safety Auditor and the person authorized to carry out audit shall not conduct a Safety Audit of any establishment where such auditor or person is employed, or an occupier, partner, director, or manager of that establishment, or of any establishment owned, operated, managed, or conducted by immediate family members, relatives or extended family members or wherein that auditor or such person has any direct or indirect interest whatsoever. An auditor or such person shall not carry out the safety audit of those establishments to which that auditor or such person supplies any plant, machinery, raw material, safety equipment or other materials or equipments.

(d) Safety Auditor and the person authorized to carry out safety audit shall not disclose, even after ceasing to be a recognized auditor or employee of the institution, any manufacturing or commercial secrets or working processes or other confidential information which may come to his knowledge in the course of their duties as an auditor. For any failure in this regard, the auditor shall be liable for revocation of his recognition under the rule and he shall not be eligible for recognition for the period of his disqualification.

(12) Standards of Safety Audit:-The Safety Audit shall be carried out as per the standards laid down under in the Indian Standard Code of Practice on Occupational Safety and Health Audit or any such standards prevailing at the relevant time whichever is latest. In the case of an institution or company or firm, compliance is required from the person or employee possessing the qualification, experience and other requirements as set out in sub-rules (8) and (9) as a Safety Auditor.

(13) Periodicity for Conducting Safety Audit: The Safety Audit shall be conducted once in every two years.

(14) Safety Audit Report:-The Safety Auditor shall, within one month from the date of completion of safety audit, forward his report with recommendations regarding improvement of the occupational safety and health in an establishment to the occupier and a copy of the same to be submitted by the Safety Auditor to the office of the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

Provided that, if the auditor notices during the safety audit, any hazard, which is likely to pose danger of causing an accident, he shall immediately communicate the same in writing to the occupier & the jurisdictional Inspector-cum-Facilitator and Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

(15) Compliance Report on Audit Report:-The occupier shall, within thirty days of the receipt of the Safety Audit report, forward the same to the jurisdictional Inspector-cum-Facilitator along with the action taken report in pursuance to the recommendations made in the Safety Audit Report. The Inspector-cum-Facilitator shall send a proposal to the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator for approval of Audit Report.