This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Roofing Contractor logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Roofing Contractor logo
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Issue
    • Archives
  • Topics
    • Cool Roofing
    • Low Slope
    • Metal
    • News
    • Products
    • Product of the Month
    • Project Profiles
    • Safety
    • Steep Slope
    • Sustainability
    • Trade Shows
    • Technology
  • Exclusives
    • Best of Success
    • Contractor Profile
    • IRE Show Daily
    • Made in the USA
    • Roofing Contractor of the Year
      • Enter Roofing Contractor of the Year
    • Top 100
      • Enter the Top 100
    • Young Guns
    • Web Exclusives
    • Editor's Choice
    • State of the Industry
    • Century Club
  • Columns
    • Editor's Note
    • Measuring Up
    • Legally Speaking
    • Safety Advice
    • Technical Details
    • Guest Column
    • High-Tech Roofing
    • Sustainable Roofing
    • Marketing Makeover
    • Leadership Selling
  • Blog
    • Damato of the Day
  • Multimedia
    • Roofing Quiz
    • Videos
    • IRE 2019 Videos
    • Webinars
    • Photo Galleries
    • Interactive Spotlights
  • More
    • Classified Ads
    • Roofing Contractor eNews
    • RC Store
    • Directory: Roofing Resource
    • Market Research
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • Sponsor Insights
  • Events
    • International Roofing Expo
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Best of Success Conference
  • Contact
    • Advertise
  • Directory
    • Associations
    • Distributors
    • Manufacturer/Supplier
    • Get Listed
    • Business Services
  • Subscribe
    • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
    • Sign Up for the eNewsletter
    • Online Registration
    • Subscription Customer Service
Home » 33-Year-Old New York Worker Dies in Four-Story Fall from Roof

33-Year-Old New York Worker Dies in Four-Story Fall from Roof

Police Line
October 30, 2019
Chris Gray
KEYWORDS fall hazards / fall protection / New York / OSHA / roofing news
Reprints
One Comment

CLARK MILLS, N.Y. — A Utica, N.Y. man died in a construction accident on Tuesday after falling from the roof of a four-story building.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office reports that Frankie T. Torchia, 33, had been hired to do construction work on the building and was at the site along with another worker. They were in the process of setting a 30-foot piece of roofing metal on the roof when the wind caught the steel and knocked Torchia from the roof.

Torchia was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the sheriff’s office, no safety equipment or harnesses were being used at the time of the accident.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the New York State Department of Labor responded and are investigating the matter.

Unfortunately, this is not the only recent death to have occurred due to falling from a roof. In North Carolina, a roofing contractor and firefighter fell to her death while working on a roof on Oct. 8. In September, a roofing contractor in Ohio was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter after an employee died from a fall.

“Falls continue to be the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry, which makes the use of proper protection essential,” said Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health in a written statement.

OSHA listed falls as its top most cited violation of 2019, and falls continue to remain one of its “Focus Four” hazards, which are job hazards that are the leading causes of deaths at work sites.

The agency is giving heavy weight to inspections involving the Focus Four hazards — falls, struck by, caught in/between and electrocution — and are hitting roofing contractors with serious penalties. A Charleston, W.V. contractor faces $202,988 for fall-related hazards, while a Martin, Ohio contractor was slapped with $274,544 for repeated violations for fall hazards.

Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to Roofing Contractor Magazine.

Recent Articles by Chris Gray

Signature Roofing Keeps Residents Going with Free Gas Tradition

POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle System Featured on Lifetime’s Designing Spaces

Tesla Hiring Roofers for Solarglass Roof Installations

16 Unlicensed Florida Contractors Arrested in ‘Operation Freelancer VIII’

Four Twelve Roofing Launches Program to Donate Roofs to Deserving Families

Chrisgray
Chris Gray is the managing editor of Roofing Contractor.

Related Articles

Investigation Underway into 15-year-old Boy’s Fatal Fall from Alabama Rooftop

OSHA Penalizes Central New York Roofing Contractor for Fall Violations

Year-in-Review: Roofing Contractor's 2018 Top Stories

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • Sign Up for the eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

operation-freelancer-viii

16 Unlicensed Florida Contractors Arrested in ‘Operation Freelancer VIII’

ABC logo

ABC Supply Launches myABCsupply to Help Roofing Contractors Manage Business on the Go

ice-river-roofers-save-woman

Roofers Rescue Woman from Drowning in Icy River

Tesla-solar-glass-roof-v3

Tesla Hiring Roofers for Solarglass Roof Installations

Lon-Smith-Roofing-Veteran

Roofing Contractors Thank Veterans with New Roof Donations

roofing quiz
Roofing Resource

Roofing Contractor Magazine

Roofing Contractor Cover 2019 November

2019 November

The November issue features our Residential and Commercial Contractors of the Year for 2019! Check out our interviews with these outstanding contractors, including video from Best of Success.
View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • Construction Group
    • Partners
    • List Rental
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Survey And Sample
  • Videos
  • Want More
    • Connect
  • Advertise

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing