A Saco-based roofer is facing nearly $1.8 million in fines for failing to protect his workers from falls, after one employee died in December in a plunge from a roof.

Shawn D. Purvis, 44, faces a total of $1,792,726 in fines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The agency cites what it calls 13 egregious violations of failing to protect his workers from fall hazards, one for each employee who worked at two job sites that were the focus of the investigation.

It is the largest workplace safety fine in New England in recent years, a spokesman for OSHA said. It dwarfs a 2015 penalty of $287,660 for a Maine construction company for similar failures to protect against worker falls, and a $1.4 million levy against a Massachusetts company in 2017 for failing to protect two workers who died in a trench when it filled with water.

Alan Loignon, 30, a longtime Purvis roofing worker and Purvis’ half-brother, fell to his death Dec. 13, 2018, from a third-story roof on Munjoy Hill in Portland as he attempted to climb down a ladder onto a scaffolding platform, OSHA said in its investigative report.

The fine is the latest challenge to an already embattled business-owner, who is facing manslaughter charges in the death as well as a $2.5 million civil lawsuit filed by Loignon’s family.

The penalty follows years of refusal by Purvis to comply with federal safety standards despite repeated citations and fines, which he also refuses to pay, Purvis said in a previous interview.

“Effective fall protection can prevent tragedies like this when an employer ensures the proper use of legally required lifesaving protection,” said OSHA Area Director David McGuan in a statement. “An ongoing refusal to follow the law exposes other employees to potentially fatal or disabling injuries. Employers cannot evade their responsibility to ensure a safe and healthful worksite.”

Purvis has 15 business days to pay the fines, contest them, or ask for an informal meeting with federal officials where he has the chance to argue for a modification or reduction of the penalty.