A terrifying situation in Asheville on Monday afternoon -- two construction workers were left dangling from the tallest building in the city after a scaffolding malfunction. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) —
The state Department of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating an incident that left two construction workers dangling from Asheville’s tallest building Monday afternoon.
Cleveland Construction, Inc. serves as the Construction Manager for the adaptive reuse of the iconic 20-story BB&T Tower in Asheville, North Carolina.
“The OSH Division is investigating the incident to determine what happened and whether or not any occupational safety and health standards were violated,” N.C. Department of Labor director of communications Dolores Quesenberry said in a statement.
Typically, the department only gets involved in cases where there is a worker death, hospitalization of an employee, amputation or loss of an eye.
Though the incident at the former BB&T building didn't have any of that, Quesenberry said Buncombe County is in the Special Emphasis Program.
“A program designed to decrease fatalities related to the construction industry in counties that have experienced one or more fatalities,” Quensenberry said.
News 13 also spoke with an Occupational Safety and Health Administration trainer to learn more about scaffolding safety.
Daniel Macuso, an authorized OSHA trainer, said, whenever a site has suspended scaffolding, the equipment needs to be inspected by a competent person every day.
"That's a person who has been trained and authorized by an employer to actually inspect it," Macuso said.
But it doesn’t stop there.
"Then the people working on [the scaffold] would have to be qualified,” Macuso said. ”Meaning, they are trained in the hazards and identify what the proper procedures are of that equipment."
Shaun Bowman, project manager for Cleveland Construction, the company working on the building where the scaffolding malfunctioned, said that company is also conducting an investigation on the initial cause of the scaffold malfunction.
He added that employees will stay off the scaffolds until that investigation is complete.
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2 construction workers escape injury after scaffolding platform malfunctions
by WLOS STAFF
Monday, August 20th 2018
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A terrifying situation in Asheville on Monday afternoon -- two construction workers were left dangling from the tallest building in the city after a scaffolding malfunction.
It happened at the Hotel Arras project, the former BB&T building in the heart of downtown.
According to the Asheville Fire Department, one of the suspended scaffolding platforms at the Arras Building/former BB&T building malfunctioned and caused one side to fall on the North Lexington side of the building.
Two workers on the scaffolding were self-rescued with the assistance of other workers. The AFD said the platform has been secured to the building and the vendor has been contacted to fix the platform.
"Here we are watching two guys who could have fallen to their deaths," said Susan Prickard, who witnessed the incident with her husband.
"It seemed like forever, but was probably no more that 15-20 minutes," Robert Prickard said.
Even hours after the two workers were able to get back to safety, the Prickard’s said they were in shock.
"As a doctor in the military, I saw plenty of stuff,” Robert Prickard said. “But this was the first time I was minding my own business and not in war and some guy could have died."
We’re told first responders got the call about 2:30 p.m. By the time firefighters got to the scene, the two workers were already back in the building
"That is something we train for, have trained for, we do it in our academy training,” said Kelley Klope, with the Asheville Fire Department. “Scenarios like window washers and things like that, so we are prepared to do that. But, thankfully, today, they were able to self-rescue and we didn't have to use our skills."
"It was hair raising. In fact, it was so hair raising I had to go run and get myself a beer," Robert Prickard said. "All is well that ends well."
Cleveland Construction project manager Shaun Bowman said the scaffold has been secured. He also said the initial cause of the incident is being investigated.
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Cleveland Construction
We’re all over the place.
Cleveland is a national construction company specializing in general contracting, construction management, design-build, and self-performing interior trades services. What’s that all mean? Throughout our history, we’ve succeeded by providing a wide range of construction solutions to our clients and delivering a whole lot of quality work.
Family-owned, nationally known.
A band of brothers and sisters. That’s who we’ve always been, ever since we cofounded our company, along with our father, some 36 years ago in Mentor, Ohio. In the mid ‘80s, we dipped our toe into general contracting and construction management services. And it’s been full steam ahead ever since. We take pride in becoming the best construction firm in the United States.
We’re confident that, given the opportunity, our construction team members will quickly impress you with their industry expertise and passion to get the job done.
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Cleveland Construction, Inc. will serve as the Construction Manager for the adaptive reuse of the iconic 20-story BB&T Tower in Asheville, North Carolina.
The project, now named The Arras, will include a 128-room Tribute Portfolio by Starwood boutique hotel, two independent restaurants, 54 condominiums on the upper levels of the building, retail space for lease and onsite parking garage.
Construction is scheduled to begin December 2016 and will be substantially completed in Fall of 2018.