Police yesterday named the man who was killed while working to clear a slip near Monkey Creek on the Milford Rd.

He was Graham Robert Brown, 67, of Dunedin.

Sergeant Tod Hollebon, of Te Anau, said emergency services were called about 12.50pm on Friday.

The incident was understood to have involved equipment being used on site at the time but the exact details had not yet been established.

An air ambulance was dispatched from Te Anau immediately but, despite the efforts of those on site, Mr Brown was unable to be revived, Mr Hollebon said.

Two other workers also suffered minor injuries in the incident and were treated at the scene.

Occupational Safety and Health officials attended the scene, along with a safety representative of the contract company.

Police would also investigate on behalf of the coroner, Mr Hollebon said.

Te Anau St John team manager John Lambeth said the man was still alive when the ambulance crew arrived.

"He had a significant head injury despite wearing a safety helmet," Mr Lambeth said.

"His work colleagues were quite distressed at the scene and our thoughts go out to them.

"We tried to maintain his life . . . but it was no longer to be."

St John South Island region communications and promotions co-ordinator Alena Lynch said the 67-year-old man suffered a "massive brain injury" in the industrial accident, which involved a compressed air hose.

"We'd sent the helicopter to him before he did die but somebody was doing CPR on him, so it was life-threatening right from the outset," she said.

She did not know any further details.

A Labour Department official confirmed the death was connected to clearing a rockfall that blocked the road into the area earlier in the week.

While it was too early for a formal investigation to have begun, the department had been informed of the incident and staff travelled to the scene yesterday, he said.

NZ Transport Agency chief executive Geoff Dangerfield said the agency would not comment on Mr Brown's death while the investigation was being carried out but offered his deepest sympathies to the man's family and fellow workers.

The Milford Road was closed at 5pm yesterday because of snow forecast for Fiordland.

Agency area manager Peter Robinson said it was also likely the road, closed by a massive landslide on October 12 between Falls Creek and Monkey Creek, would remain closed today.

Heavy rain was predicted for Fiordland and this would present a risk of slips, he said. "We have to be conservative when the weather becomes an issue."

- © Fairfax NZ News