MENLO PARK (CBS SF) – Two iron workers at the construction site of a new Facebook building in Menlo Park were injured Wednesday after part of the building collapsed, causing them to fall, fire officials said.
According to Menlo Park Fire Protection District officials, at 5:21 p.m. fire crews responded to Facebook’s new building 21, which is currently under construction.
At the scene, fire crews were escorted by other construction workers to the two injured men.
According to workers who witnessed the incident, both victims were assembling steel framing about 40 feet above ground when a steel beam they were standing on and attached to dropped about 20 feet.
The beam caught on a lower floor assembly and catapulted the two men toward the ground. Their safety harnesses and rigging broke and stopped their descent before hitting the ground below, fire officials said.
According to fire officials, one victim is in his late 20s and the other is in his early 30s. Both men were conscious after the fall and complained of significant pain to their lower extremities, as well as puncture wounds.
Both men were treated at the scene, then transported to Stanford Hospital and Trauma Center.
In a statement, Menlo Park fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said, “Fortunately, the iron workers were wearing their safety harnesses and rigging, which probably helped save their lives along with, as we understand it, the fact that the beam they were attached to caught on a lower floor assembly, miraculously insuring their survival.”
A number of steel upright and cross beams were damaged in the collapse, according to fire officials. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health will be conducting an investigation of the collapse
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2 workers hurt in construction accident at new Facebook building
Two iron workers are recovering this morning after a scary accident at a Facebook construction site. (Menlo Park Fire Protection District)
By Matt Keller
Updated 1 hr 53 mins ago
MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) -- Two iron workers are recovering this morning after a scary accident at a Facebook construction site.
A beam suffered what's being called a "catastrophic failure." Workers at the site said the two men were working 40-feet high on Facebook's new Building 21 just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. They were putting together the steel framing when that beam dropped about 20 feet, catching on to other parts of the construction, catapulting them towards the ground. Firefighters say their safety harnesses and rigging stopped their fall, before they hit the ground.
Both men, one in his late 20's and the other in his early 30's, Were taken to the hospital with puncture wounds and also pain in their lower bodies. The fire chief says it was miraculous they survived.
CAL OSHA has started their investigation and says there were no previous incidents at this site. They have up to six months to decide if they want to issue a citation for this incident.