The owner of a Saco, Maine, roofing company faces multiple charges after an independent contractor fell to his death at a job site, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Alan D. Loignon II was working for Purvis Home Improvement as an independent contractor when he died Dec. 13 after falling off a roof at a Portland jobsite. Loignon was not wearing a safety harness at the job site, according to reports.

Shawn Purvis, owner of the roofing contractor, faces one count of workplace manslaughter and one count of manslaughter in the death. Purvis told the Press Herald that he provides safety gear to his workers, but that he cannot enforce compliance with federal safety standards on his job sites because they are independent contractors.

“General contractors are responsible for the overall safety of their work site, regardless of whether workers are employees or independent contractors,” Jessica Picard, communications manager for the US Department of Labor, told the Press Herald in an email.

The manslaughter charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine; the workplace manslaughter count carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

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