Occupational Health Among Workers in the Informal Sector in India

Despite having laws and regulations to protect health of workers in industries in India, little has been effective in ensuring and protecting health and safety especially in case of small and medium firms in the informal sector including manufacturing, mining/ quarrying and construction. Using evidences from different secondary sources and NSS 60th round (Health and Morbidity) unit level dataset, this paper makes an attempt to: (1) estimate the number of workers suffering from any ailment in different informal sector industries by age group; (2) present government policies on Occupational Health and Safety; and (3) discuss private initiatives through corporate social responsibilities and voluntary standards that can have a positive impact on the workers’ health in unorganized enterprises.