Section 111 of the Factories Act 1948 - Obligations of Workers
Section 111 of the Factories Act, 1948 places specific safety-related duties on workers in a factory. It prohibits wilful misuse of safety or welfare facilities, dangerous conduct without reasonable cause, and wilful failure to use safety appliances provided in the factory.
Meaning and purpose of Section 111
The provision imposes duties directly on workers. Its purpose is to support workplace health and safety by requiring workers not to defeat, ignore or misuse measures provided for their protection or for the protection of others.
Section 111 - Obligations of workers
(1) No worker in a factory--
(a) shall wilfully interfere with or misuse any appliance, convenience or other thing provided in a factory for the purposes of securing the health, safety or welfare of the workers therein;
(b) shall wilfully and without reasonable cause do anything likely to endanger himself or others; and
(c) shall wilfully neglect to make use of any appliance or other thing provided in the factory for the purposes of securing the health or safety of the workers therein.
(2) If any worker employed in a factory contravenes any of the provisions of this section or of any rule or order made thereunder, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees, or with both.
What Section 111 requires from a worker
- Do not misuse safety or welfare equipment: A worker must not wilfully interfere with or misuse an appliance, convenience or other item supplied to protect health, safety or welfare.
- Do not create avoidable danger: A worker must not wilfully, and without reasonable cause, do anything likely to endanger himself or another person.
- Use safety appliances: A worker must not wilfully neglect to use an appliance or other thing provided for workers' health or safety.
Penalty under Section 111(2)
A worker who contravenes Section 111, or a rule or order made under it, may be punished with imprisonment for up to three months, a fine of up to one hundred rupees, or both. The statutory amount reproduced here is the amount stated in Section 111(2) of the Factories Act, 1948.
Related worker rights and factory safety duties
Section 111 should be read in the wider health and safety framework of the Factories Act. Section 111A deals with specified rights of workers concerning health and safety information, training and representation to the Inspector. The Act also places general health and safety duties on the occupier, including duties concerning safe systems of work, information, instruction, training and supervision.
Official legal sources
For authoritative statutory text and current legislative material, refer to the official Government of India resources in the right-side panel. Where a compliance issue depends on current commencement, rules, notifications or State-specific factory rules, those instruments should be checked in addition to the bare provision.
Page reviewed for legal-source accuracy: 26 September 2026.