Section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948: Interpretation and Definitions
OverviewPersons and timeManufacturing processFactoryOccupierState amendmentsCurrent law
Current legal position (7 October 2026): The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code) took effect on 21 November 2025. Section 143 repeals the Factories Act, 1948, subject to its savings and transitional provisions. Section 2 of the Factories Act is therefore presented here as a historical reference, with corresponding current definitions explained below. Applicable State provisions, saved rules and notifications must also be checked.
Meaning and scope of Section 2
Section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948 defined the principal expressions used to determine factory coverage, responsibility for workplace safety, manufacturing operations and categories of workers. These definitions remain important when interpreting older records, proceedings, licences, compliance periods and rights or liabilities preserved under the repeal-and-savings provisions. For current obligations, refer primarily to the OSH Code, 2020, particularly sections 2 and 143.
Age, persons and time: historical clauses (a) to (g)
- (a) Adult
- A person who has completed 18 years of age.
- (b) Adolescent
- A person who has completed 15 years but not 18 years of age.
- (bb) Calendar year
- The 12 months beginning on 1 January.
- (c) Child
- A person who has not completed 15 years of age, for the purposes of the former Act. This historical definition should not be substituted for current child-labour restrictions.
- (ca) Competent person
- A person or institution recognised by the Chief Inspector to conduct statutory factory tests, examinations and inspections, taking account of qualifications, experience and available facilities. More than one could be recognised for a factory.
- (cb) Hazardous process
- A process or activity in an industry in the First Schedule where materials, products, by-products, wastes or effluents could, without special care, materially impair health or pollute the general environment. The State Government could amend the Schedule by Gazette notification.
- (d) Young person
- A child or adolescent.
- (e) Day
- 24 hours beginning at midnight.
- (f) Week
- Seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night, or another night approved in writing by the Chief Inspector for a particular area.
- (g) Power
- Electrical energy or other mechanically transmitted energy not generated by human or animal agency.
Machinery: historical clauses (h) to (j)
- (h) Prime mover
- An engine, motor or other appliance generating or providing power.
- (i) Transmission machinery
- Shafts, wheels, drums, pulleys, couplings, clutches, driving belts and other devices transmitting or receiving motion from a prime mover.
- (j) Machinery
- Includes prime movers, transmission machinery and appliances used to generate, transform, transmit or apply power.
Manufacturing process: historical clause (k)
The expression covered processes involving:
- Making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, packing, oiling, washing, cleaning, breaking up, demolishing, treating or adapting articles or substances for use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal.
- Pumping oil, water, sewage or other substances.
- Generating, transforming or transmitting power.
- Typesetting, printing by letterpress, lithography, photogravure or similar processes, and bookbinding.
- Constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, finishing or breaking up ships or vessels.
- Preserving or storing articles in cold storage.
Worker: historical clause (l)
A worker included a person engaged directly or through an agency, including a contractor, with or without the principal employer's knowledge and whether remunerated or not, in a manufacturing process, cleaning associated machinery or premises, or work incidental or connected to the process or its subject. Members of the Union armed forces were excluded.
Factory: historical clause (m)
Under the central text of the former Act, a factory generally meant premises, including precincts, where a manufacturing process was carried on and where 10 or more workers with power or 20 or more workers without power worked on any day in the preceding 12 months. A mine governed by the Mines Act, a mobile unit of the Union armed forces, a railway running shed, or a hotel, restaurant or eating place was excluded.
Explanation I: Workers in all groups and relays on a day were counted. Explanation II: Installation of an electronic data processing or computer unit alone did not create a factory where no manufacturing process took place.
Occupier: historical clause (n)
The occupier was the person having ultimate control of the factory's affairs. In a partnership or association, one of the partners or members was deemed the occupier; for a company, one of its directors; and for a government or local-authority factory, the person appointed to manage its affairs.
A special proviso apportioned occupier responsibilities during ship repair or maintenance in a hired dry dock. The dock owner was treated as occupier for specified matters under sections 6, 7, 7A, 7B, 11, 12, 17 (dock lighting), 18, 19, 42, 46, 47 and 49. The ship owner, agent, master, officer in charge or repair contractor bore the specified responsibilities under sections 13, 14, 16, 17 (subject to the exception), Chapter IV (except section 27), sections 43 to 45, Chapters VI to IX and sections 108 to 110 in relation to their workers and equipment or premises used for the work.
Other expressions: historical clauses (p) and (r)
Prescribed (p) meant prescribed by rules made by the State Government under the Act. Under clause (r), where different sets of workers did the same kind of work during different parts of a day, each set was a group or relay, and each period was a shift. The intervening clauses (o) and (q) had been omitted.
State and Union Territory amendments to the former Act
Factory thresholds under the historical Act were amended in different jurisdictions. These amendments matter for the period and territory to which they applied; they must not be assumed to override the OSH Code without checking its State-law saving proviso and subsequent legislation.
| Jurisdiction | Historical change to clause (m) | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | State notification could specify thresholds, up to 20 workers with power and 40 without power. | Maharashtra Act 40 of 2015, s. 2 |
| Ladakh | 20 with power; 40 without power. | S.O. 3774(E), 23 October 2020 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 20 with power; 40 without power. | S.O. 3465(E), 5 October 2020 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 20 with power; 40 without power. | Uttar Pradesh Act 13 of 2018, s. 2 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 20 with power; 40 without power. | Arunachal Pradesh Act 6 of 2020, s. 2 |
| Rajasthan | 20 with power; 40 without power. | Rajasthan Act 20 of 2014, s. 2 |
Current law: OSH Code, 2020
The Code's section 2(1)(w) generally defines a factory by reference to 20 or more workers where power is used and 40 or more workers where power is not used, counting any day in the previous 12 months. The proviso preserves a different threshold established by applicable State law immediately before commencement until changed by the competent legislature. Coverage of an establishment under section 2(1)(v), including certain establishments with 10 or more workers, must be examined separately from the factory threshold.
The current section 2 also addresses adult (clause (b)), adolescent (clause (a), by reference to child-labour legislation), competent person (clause (l)), day (clause (q)), manufacturing process, occupier (clause (zs)), and other defined terms. The Code's company-occupier rule excludes an independent director within section 149(6) of the Companies Act, 2013. Its definitions and associated provisions should be read in full rather than assuming every former definition carries forward unchanged.
Section 143 (repeal and savings) repeals the Factories Act, 1948 while preserving specified past acts, instruments and proceedings as provided by law. Whether a saved rule or a later Central or State rule applies requires examination of the relevant notification and circumstances.
Legislative history of the former Section 2
Important changes reflected in the historical text include Act 25 of 1954 (calendar year and printing-related changes), Act 94 of 1976 (worker coverage, pumping and other manufacturing processes, and factory explanations), and Act 20 of 1987 (competent person, hazardous process, further explanations and occupier provisions). The 1987 amendments generally took effect on 1 December 1987. The historical statutory text also contains provisions omitted by the Adaptation Order, 1950 and the 1987 amendments. For exact amendment wording and commencement dates, consult the official historical Act.
Official legislation and references
- India Code: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- Official text of the OSH Code (PDF)
- Ministry of Labour and Employment: commencement of four labour codes, 21 November 2025
- India Code: central and State legislation database
This article explains the former Section 2 and identifies the present central statutory framework. Check the latest rules, notifications, State amendments and transitional provisions for any specific factory or compliance issue.