Investigators Mum on Fatal Roofing Accident

Authorities say they are still investigating a roofing accident in which a man suffered fatal injuries during a 30-foot fall, and said therefore that they cannot provide insight into what may have led to the fall.

Rosemarie Ohar, an area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said her organization hasn't yet completed its investigation into the incident, which Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh said occurred at around 9:30 a.m. Monday at 71 Liberty Common in Rye.

Ohar said the name and age of the man, a Franklin resident Walsh said was performing work in Rye as an employee of Newfields-based Granite State Home Improvements, won't be released because OSHA "still has an ongoing inspection" of labor practices at the job site.

"I can't make any comments," said Ohar, who added that her agency has up to six months to make determinations, release information or issue citations for labor violations.

Walsh said the Rye Fire and Police departments were called to the accident scene at 9:32 a.m. Monday after receiving a call about a man who fell off a ladder. Walsh said the man suffered undisclosed injuries when he fell approximately 30 feet from the ladder, "hit[ting] a deck railing" before hitting the ground.

Emergency responders immediately began providing first aid, and Walsh said the man was almost "immediate[ly]" transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital. The man later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Walsh said the matter isn't a criminal investigation, and that additional details about the incident would have to be released by OSHA.

Granite State Home Improvements couldn't immediately be reached for comment.