Focus

As you well know, in December 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cancelled its interim fall-protection guidelines for residential construction, eliminating the use of slide guards on roofs with slopes up to 8-in-12 (34 degrees). The agency stated safety nets, guardrails and personal fall-arrest systems would be required on such job sites effective June 16 of this year.

In February, NRCA filed a petition for judicial review of the new rules, explaining the rules fundamentally change the requirements for protecting workers from falls on residential roofing projects. However, in April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Chicago, dismissed NRCA's petition.

The ruling was disappointing to NRCA, as well as other construction organizations.

NRCA reached out to Reps. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.), Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) to request OSHA reconsider its position.

The congressional pressure helped, and on June 8, OSHA indicated enforcement of its new rules will be phased in during a three-month period. From June 16 to Sept. 15, the agency will not issue citations to residential roofing contractors who comply with the fall-protection guidelines issued under the cancelled directive. NRCA members were sent several Special Reports about the events; they are available on NRCA's website, www.nrca.net, in the Members Only section.

Although the new rules have not been withdrawn, the additional time frame allotted contractors will help them figure out how to comply, as well as allow NRCA to gather information from OSHA regarding how the agency will enforce these new rules.

If you have questions about the issue or encounter OSHA on a job site, contact Tom Shanahan, NRCA's associate executive director of risk management, at tshanahan@nrca.net.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Professional Roofing and NRCA's senior director of communications.