Washington – OSHA’s temporary enforcement measures for residential construction has been extended to March 15, OSHA announced Dec. 11.

This is the fifth time OSHA has delayed full enforcement of a directive, which originally went into effect June 16, 2011, requiring residential construction employers to follow conventional fall protection requirements. An earlier directive allowed such employers to more easily bypass these requirements.

Under the extended temporary enforcement measures, employers can receive priority on free onsite compliance assistance, penalty reductions and extended abatement dates.

The agency first instituted a three-month phase-in period in which employers found violating the new directive would not be cited. This was later followed by the temporary enforcement period, which has now been extended three times.