SafetyNiti2025 - Continued focus on Worker Safety & Productivity
- Safe in India
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Significant Shift in Automotive Brands’ Ranking in last 5 years – Bajaj moves from 8th to first, while Maruti moves from first to 9th , Ashok Leyland remains at bottom. BRSR Submissions to SEBI of 78 Listed Auto Firms: Improved Reporting on Own-Factory OSH & Human Rights; Supply Chain Remains a Gap. |
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This blog summarizes the findings of our latest report for the auto sector - SafetyNiti2025. The report details which of the top 10 automobile brands have improved (or not) their worker safety policies for both their own workers and their supply chain workers. This issue has a significant linkage with Indian Labour Productivity, which urgently needs to improve from its 133rd global ranking
Introduction :
On November 14, 2025, Safe in India Foundation launched the fifth edition of our flagship SafetyNiti report — SafetyNiti2025 — in the presence of auto sector workers, policymakers, and industry leaders. The report continues its mission of tracking how India’s biggest automobile brands are addressing worker safety and human rights risks, not only within their factories but deeper into their supply chains.
This year’s edition brings two significant additions:
A 5-year comparative view (2021–2025) of brands’ OSH policies and practices
A brief review of BRSR disclosures of 78 listed auto-sector companies and their suppliers
The question we ask remains unchanged: Are automotive brands doing enough to protect the workers, who keep the wheels of India’s automotive industry turning |
Top 10 Automotive Brands’ Policy Progress in 5 years: Progress Visible in Policies but Implementation needs much more speed
There has been a clear improvement in OSH-related policies since 2021. But the momentum is uneven. Some highlights:
Section 1 – OSH Policies for own operations
Total 7 brands now have publicly available OSH and Human Rights policies with exceptions like Ashok Leyland and Maruti Suzuki, which continues to not have made the policies public.
Section 2 – OSH Policies for deeper supply chain
9 brands except Maruti (up from 5 in 2021) now have contractually binding SCoC for Tier 1 suppliers
Board-level attention to worker safety remains unclear since statement in Annual Report is not clear enough.
Enforcement of OSH policies in India viz-a-vis other countries now appears to be consistent in three brands.
Not a single brand has a publicly defined framework for monitoring deeper suppliers.
Section 3 - Implementation to ensure safety across the supply chain
Mapping remains mostly limited to Tier-1 suppliers, except Maruti Suzuki which has initiated and mapped a greater share of tier 2 suppliers.
Six (up from 0 in 2021) automobile brands have now defined corrective actions, though no automobile brand has given details of any corrective action.
Training and monitoring for suppliers are either minimal or absent. All the top 10 brands appear to be not yet investing in training, monitoring, assessing, and supporting their suppliers (direct and deeper).
Bajaj and Hero have moved from lower positions to the top, while Maruti Suzuki has slid down from number 1 position to 9.
Eicher, TVS and Ashok Leyland have consistently been near bottom.
Honda and Mahindra appear to have not done much beyond their own operations and Tier 1 suppliers, which has resulted in a fall in their ranking.
Tata and Hyundai with some policy changes over the years have remained relatively unchanged in their rank.
Now that the policy framework has improved to some degree, though more is required; in future reports, we will be gradually increasing the weighting of implementation.
BRSR Submissions to SEBI of 78 Listed Auto Firms: Improved Reporting on Own-Factory OSH & Human Rights; Supply Chain Remains a Gap
Own-operations/factory indicators look robust. Almost all companies report 100% assessment coverage for health & safety/working conditions and for human rights.
However, reporting on Supply chain remains weak, with a majority not assessing/reporting even direct suppliers. only c.21% (H&S/working conditions) and c.17% (human rights) show 100% Tier 1 supplier coverage, with >50% showing zero or no disclosure.
A panel discussion with two injured workers:
A panel featuring injured auto workers Mr. Preetam Verma and Mr. Rahul Sharma - moderated by Ms. Saroja (Head Worker Safety, SII).
These workers held poor working conditions including poor preventative maintenance, high production pressure and overwork as key factors leading to their injuries.
Both were certain about the Automobile Brand that they manufactured parts for. One of the workers was injured while working in Lifelong Private Limited, which is a direct supplier of Hero MotoCorp. Other worker was injured working in the supply chain of Maruti Suzuki.
धूलखींचने वाली मशीन (डस्ट कलेक्टर) लंबी पाइपों से सारी धूल खींचती है और डक्ट में जमा हो जाती है। जो बॉयलर फटा (विस्फोट हुआ), उस बॉयलर की सफ़ाई दो-दो महीने तक नहीं होती थी सेफ़्टी और मेंटेनेंस की बात सिर्फ़ ऑडिट के समय ही होती है। जिस जगह ऑडिट से पहले 50 लोग काम करते हैं, ऑडिट के समय वहाँ से 40 लोगों को हटाकर सिर्फ़ 10 को रखा जाता है।सुरक्षा के लिए मास्क, कान में लगाने वाला प्लग (इयर प्लग), हेलमेट और दस्ताने (ग्लव्स) दिए जाते थे कि पहनो। लेकिन यह सिर्फ़ दिखावा था। - Mr. Preetam Verma Got Burn Injuries while working in the buffing department in LifeLong India Pvt Ltd., a direct supplier to Hero Motors, where 50+ workers were burnt badly of whom 19 dies in March 2024 |
Expert Panel on Safety, Policy, and Productivity Focus:
Another panel discussion including Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran (Co-Founder ECUBE INVESTMENT ADVISORS), Mr. Vinod Sant (Former DG, National Safety Council), and Prof. Ankur Sarin (Public Systems Group, IIM-A) was moderated by Mr. Sandeep Sachdeva (Co-Founder & CEO, SII).
The discussion centered on expanding the effective enforcement of ESG's "S" component (OSH and working conditions) into the deeper automotive supply chain tiers. Experts detailed the broad, nationwide scope of the NGRBC, which extends beyond listed companies, and debated why brands prioritize cost, delivery, and product quality over worker safety, working conditions in their supply chains, without realising the correlation between them.
The discussion identified the implementation challenges and explored what specific assistance stakeholders—including industry bodies, investors, and auditors—must provide to make OSH policies stick.
Emphasizing the worker/human rights perspective, the panel also highlighted the direct link between better working conditions and enhanced labour productivity and quality, calling for concrete policy moves from government to foster a sustainable and inclusive sector.
When you look at that (improvements by brands) graph, the left side is full of reds, and the right has fewer reds. You can see a shift, but it is very slow. In five years, one would have liked to see many more greens than ambers. On OSH, OEMs (brands) still struggle to go beyond their tier-one suppliers. Even tier-two suppliers are a struggle, and that clearly has to be the next step. - Shankar Venkateswaran (Co-Founder ECUBE INVESTMENT ADVISORS)
At the macro level, it is clear there is no trade-off between safety and the economy. Wherever you look, better safety is strongly associated with higher productivity and growth. Safe in India’s estimate is that poor occupational safety and health is costing us nearly 4% of India’s GDP, around 12 lakh crore rupees every year. - Prof. Ankur Sarin (Public Systems Group, IIM-A)
Safety is not only one person’s job; it is everybody’s responsibility, whether it is the company (brand) or anywhere in the supply chain. Many corporate policies say that safety is everybody’s responsibility, but accountability is not defined. The performance evaluation of managers does not include safety as a parameter, and there lies one of the major fault lines. - Vinodkumar Sant (Former DG, National Safety Council)
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Economic Survey 2024-25 supports SII's recommendation
The Survey emphasizes that establishing worker safety/better working conditions as a core business driver is essential for creating a professional and productive factory environment. This goal can be achieved by implementing strategic policies, including improving OSH data systems, linking safety directly to productivity metrics, offering compliance incentives, enhancing MSME capacity through shared safety resources and training, and integrating robust OSH norms into ESG-based procurement.
The Road Ahead: From Awareness to Accountability
SafetyNiti25 shows that India’s automotive sector is moving, but not fast enough for the workers whose hands build the vehicles we celebrate.
Brands must now:
Extend OSH oversight better into Tier-1 (still 20%+ injuries) and Tier 2 immediately
Invest in supplier capability and monitoring
Share transparently not just policies, but implementation results
Safe in India remains committed to supporting this transition — with evidence, collaboration, and worker voices at the centre.
Written by- Siddharth Raina
Senior Manager
Research & Advocacy
Thank you for reading this blog. Please do share your thoughts and suggestion team@safeinindia.org
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