Karnataka's factory base runs from the Bengaluru–Peenya–Bommasandra–Jigani electronics, aerospace, automotive and pharmaceutical clusters to the Hubballi–Dharwad engineering belt, Belagavi foundries, Mysuru–Nanjangud industrial area, Mangaluru's chemical and petrochemical units, and the Ballari–Hosapete steel and mining zone. Dust, noise, solvent and electroplating exposures are common across these clusters.
Statutory medical surveillance in Karnataka follows the Factories Act, 1948 as implemented through the Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969: pre-employment and periodic examinations of workers in hazardous processes by a Factory Medical Officer, Certifying Surgeon examinations for notified dangerous operations, a Health Register and Certificates of Fitness in the state-prescribed format, and an Occupational Health Centre scaled to the workforce. Nodal Healthcare delivers all of this as an on-site programme.
| Applicable rules | Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 |
|---|---|
| Enforcing authority | Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health, Government of Karnataka |
| Health Register (Certifying Surgeon / dangerous operations) | Form 26 (Certifying Surgeon — dangerous operations) |
| Health Register (Factory Medical Officer / hazardous process) | Form 16 |
| Certificate of Fitness | Form 4 (Certificate of Fitness) · hazardous process: Form 4 |
| Examination frequency | Hazardous process: pre-employment, then every 6 months (Rule 88-L). Dangerous operations: within 15 days of first employment, then at least every 12 months per schedule. |
| Verification status | Verified against official text · last checked 2026-09-12 |
Rule 15 (Duties of Certifying Surgeons) — sub-rules (13)–(15): the Certifying Surgeon visits factories carrying on dangerous operations at the prescribed intervals, examines the workers and records each examination in the Health Register in Form 26, kept by the manager; the Certifying Surgeon may suspend a worker from the process by an entry in the register.
Rule 88-L (Medical Examination): workers in a hazardous process are examined by the Factory Medical Officer once before employment and once every six months; details recorded in the Health Register in Form No. 16; no first employment without a Certificate of Fitness in Form No. 4; the manager also maintains a sickness/absenteeism register in Form No. 40, a copy of which goes to the Inspector monthly.
Rule 88-M (Occupational Health Centres): retainer FMO for up to 50 workers; OHC room with a part-time FMO visiting at least twice a week for 51–200 workers; full-time FMO and a two-room OHC for factories above 200 workers (one more FMO per additional 1,000).
Schedules under the dangerous-operations rules (lead, electrolytic plating, chrome, silica, benzene and others) require examination by the Certifying Surgeon within 15 days of first employment and re-examination at least every 12 months, with process-specific tests such as blood/urine lead, ALA, PFT and chest X-ray, and a Certificate of Fitness in Form 4.
As prescribed by the relevant schedule and the FMO's judgement — clinical examination, vision, audiometry, spirometry, chest X-ray for dust processes, blood and urine lead, ALA in urine, haemoglobin and steadiness test for lead processes, skin and nasal inspection for chrome/electrolytic processes.
Form 26 and Form 16 registers and the Form 4 certificates are kept by the manager, produced to the Certifying Surgeon at each visit and kept readily available for inspection; Rule 88-P requires health records to be made available to workers.
Karnataka uses two Health Register forms: Form 26 for Certifying Surgeon examinations in dangerous operations (Rule 15) and Form 16 for Factory Medical Officer examinations in hazardous processes (Rule 88-L). There is no 'Form 18' Health Register in the Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969.
We map your process list to the Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 to determine which workers need pre-employment, six-monthly or annual examinations and which tests apply.
Occupational-health physicians holding the DGFASLI-recognised AFIH qualification conduct the Factory Medical Officer examinations and support your Occupational Health Centre.
Where a schedule requires the State-appointed Certifying Surgeon, we coordinate their visit and examinations as part of the same programme, subject to the appointment rules in Karnataka.
Completed registers and certificates in the state-prescribed format, a digital copy, due-date recall and de-identified batch statistics for management.
The Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 impose two distinct medical-surveillance duties. First, under Rule 88-L, every worker employed in a hazardous process must be medically examined by the Factory Medical Officer once before employment and once every six months (sooner if the FMO considers it necessary), with the details recorded in the Health Register in Form No. 16; no worker may be employed for the first time without a Certificate of Fitness in Form No. 4 issued by the FMO. The same factories must maintain an Occupational Health Centre under Rule 88-M, scaled by workforce size, with the FMO on retainer, part-time or full-time accordingly. Second, under Rule 15(13)–(15), the State-appointed Certifying Surgeon visits factories carrying on notified dangerous operations at the intervals fixed in the relevant schedule, examines the exposed workers and records the results in the Health Register in Form 26, which the manager keeps and produces at each visit. Most schedules require the Certifying Surgeon's examination within 15 days of first employment and re-examination at least once every 12 months, with process-specific tests such as blood lead, pulmonary function and chest X-ray. Enforcement is by the Karnataka Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health. Nodal Healthcare provides AFIH-qualified doctors for the FMO role and coordinates authorised Certifying Surgeons for the Form 26 examinations, with on-site batches in Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Mysuru, Mangaluru and other Karnataka industrial areas.
It is Form 26 for examinations by the Certifying Surgeon in dangerous operations (Rule 15(14)) and Form 16 for Factory Medical Officer examinations in hazardous processes (Rule 88-L(1)(c)). We verified this against the consolidated text of the Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 published by the Karnataka Labour Department. "Form 18" is sometimes quoted in vendor material but is not the Health Register under these rules. Because Karnataka splits the register by provision, a factory that has both a hazardous process (for example solvent-based coating) and a scheduled dangerous operation (for example electroplating) may need entries in both Form 16 and Form 26 for the same workforce — our documentation workflow maps each worker to the correct register and signatory.
Send us your process list and headcount — we will map the applicable rules, tests and frequency and quote an on-site batch.
Status: Verified against official text · Last checked: 2026-09-12. Source: Karnataka Factories Rules, 1969 (as amended) — published by the Karnataka Labour Department. Enforcing authority: Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health, Government of Karnataka. Rules change — we re-check each state periodically and confirm current requirements before every batch.
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.
