AFIH — Associate Fellow of Industrial Health — is the DGFASLI-regulated industrial-health qualification that state Factories Rules expect of a Factory Medical Officer in a hazardous-process factory. We provide AFIH-qualified occupational-health doctors for examinations, Occupational Health Centres and statutory documentation across India.
AFIH stands for Associate Fellow of Industrial Health. It is a three-month, full-time course in occupational and industrial health regulated by the Directorate General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, and conducted at DGFASLI's Central Labour Institute and Regional Labour Institutes and at recognised institutions such as ICMR–NIOH and the Public Health Foundation of India. Candidates must hold an MBBS degree and permanent registration with the National Medical Commission or a State Medical Council. The examination at the end of the course is conducted by DGFASLI and successful candidates are awarded the AFIH certificate.
The qualification exists because of the Factories (Amendment) Act, 1987, which inserted the hazardous-process chapter (Sections 41-A to 41-H) into the Factories Act, 1948. State Factories Rules framed under those sections — for example Rule 73-W of the Maharashtra Factories Rules, 1963, Rule 88-M of the Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 and Rule 68-U of the Gujarat Factories Rules, 1963 — require a hazardous-process factory to maintain an Occupational Health Centre under a Factory Medical Officer who holds an additional industrial-health qualification recognised by the Central and State Governments. AFIH (or the older Diploma in Industrial Health) is that qualification. It is recognised for Factory Medical Officer appointment across India.
An AFIH doctor is trained in occupational diseases, industrial toxicology, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, occupational-health legislation, medical surveillance design, audiometry and spirometry interpretation, and the management of an Occupational Health Centre — exactly the skill set a factory needs to run pre-employment and periodic medical examinations that stand up to inspection.
These are different things, and the difference matters for compliance. An AFIH doctor holds a qualification. A Certifying Surgeon holds an appointment: under Section 10 of the Factories Act, 1948 the State Government appoints qualified medical practitioners as Certifying Surgeons for specified local limits, factories or classes of factories, and only a Certifying Surgeon (or a practitioner specifically authorised to exercise those powers) can perform the functions the Act reserves to that office — certifying young persons, examining workers in notified dangerous operations under Section 87 and the state schedules, suspending a worker from a process by an entry in the Health Register, and giving the final opinion when a Factory Medical Officer declares a worker unfit under the hazardous-process rules.
An AFIH qualification does not, by itself, make a doctor a Certifying Surgeon, and a Certifying Surgeon need not hold AFIH. A doctor may hold both — but that is a matter of documentary verification, never assumption.
We provide AFIH-qualified doctors and occupational-health physicians for Factory Medical Officer roles and examination batches. Where a statutory examination specifically requires a Certifying Surgeon or an authority-approved practitioner, we coordinate compliant services through appropriately qualified, authorised or empanelled professionals, subject to the applicable state rules and appointment requirements. We do not describe every AFIH doctor as a Certifying Surgeon, and we never claim to exercise government statutory authority ourselves.
An inspector from DISH or the State Factory Inspectorate checks not only that examinations were done but that the right person did and signed them. A dangerous-operation register signed only by a Factory Medical Officer, where the schedule requires the Certifying Surgeon, is a compliance gap. Our workflow maps every entry to the correct signatory under the state rules.
Scope is set by your process list, the applicable State Factories Rules and your own requirements — not every element applies to every factory.
Baseline fitness assessment and Certificate of Fitness before a worker is first employed in a hazardous process, as the state rule requires.
Six-monthly examinations for hazardous-process workers (Maharashtra Rule 73-V, Karnataka 88-L, Gujarat 68-T and equivalents), annual or as prescribed for others.
Examination details recorded in the state-prescribed register — Form 7 (Maharashtra), Form 16 (Karnataka), Form 32 (Gujarat) — with the FMO as signatory where the rule so provides.
Retainer, part-time or full-time FMO cover for the OHC scale the rules set by workforce size; equipment lists, first-aider training and emergency arrangements.
Surveillance design for noise, dust, silica, solvents, lead, chrome, pesticides, heat and ergonomic risk, with the investigations each hazard calls for.
Reporting abnormalities to the Certifying Surgeon where the rule requires, arranging referral, and managing fitness-to-return decisions.
De-identified batch statistics, department-wise trends and due-date tracking for HR, EHS and plant leadership.
Documentation prepared to the standard DISH / Factory Inspectorate officers expect, in every state you operate in.
An AFIH doctor leads each on-site examination batch — the most common model for plants that need periodic surveillance without a resident doctor.
Scheduled visits (weekly, fortnightly or as the OHC rule requires) plus availability for emergencies and documentation — suited to factories of up to a few hundred workers.
A dedicated AFIH-qualified Factory Medical Officer for large hazardous-process factories, supported by our documentation and reporting systems.
One programme across plants in several states, with state-correct registers, signatories and recall calendars managed centrally.
AFIH is the Associate Fellow of Industrial Health, a three-month full-time industrial-health qualification for registered medical practitioners (MBBS with NMC/State Medical Council registration). The course is regulated by DGFASLI — the Directorate General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes under the Ministry of Labour and Employment — which conducts the final examination and awards the certificate. It is recognised across India as the additional qualification for a Factory Medical Officer in a hazardous-process factory under the Factories (Amendment) Act, 1987 and the corresponding State Factories Rules.
If your factory carries on a hazardous process as defined in Section 2(cb) of the Factories Act, 1948, the State Factories Rules require an Occupational Health Centre under a Factory Medical Officer holding a recognised industrial-health qualification — in Maharashtra under Rule 73-W, in Karnataka under Rule 88-M, in Gujarat under Rule 68-U, and similarly elsewhere. AFIH or DIH satisfies that requirement. If your factory is not a hazardous-process factory, an AFIH doctor is not mandated, but many employers still prefer one to design and lead their medical surveillance programme.
For examinations the rules assign to the Factory Medical Officer — the pre-employment and six-monthly examinations of hazardous-process workers — yes: the FMO records them in the state register (Form 7 in Maharashtra under Rule 73-V, Form 16 in Karnataka under Rule 88-L, Form 32 in Gujarat under Rule 68-T). For examinations the rules reserve to the Certifying Surgeon — workers in notified dangerous operations under the state schedules — the register must be signed by the Certifying Surgeon appointed by the State Government. We coordinate those examinations with appropriately authorised or empanelled Certifying Surgeons as part of the same batch.
Yes. Nodal Healthcare is headquartered in Mumbai and provides AFIH-qualified doctors and examination batches across India. Because the qualification is DGFASLI-recognised nationally, the same doctor can serve as Factory Medical Officer in any state; what changes is the register, certificate and Occupational Health Centre rule of that state, which our documentation workflow handles. See our state-wise compliance pages.
Tell us your state, process list and headcount — we will propose the right engagement model and scope.
Nodal Healthcare provides occupational-health services through qualified medical professionals. AFIH-qualified doctors and Factory Medical Officers are not, by virtue of that qualification, Certifying Surgeons; Certifying Surgeons are appointed or authorised by the State Government under Section 10 of the Factories Act, 1948. Where a statutory provision requires a Certifying Surgeon or other authority-approved practitioner, we coordinate compliant services through appropriately qualified, authorised or empanelled professionals, subject to the applicable state rules and appointment requirements. Content on this page is a general guide and not legal advice; always confirm current requirements with the competent state authority.
