... ...The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the construction site of a high-rise office building where a large crane fell and crushed a passing vehicle Monday.
Click here for video of the crane falling and a video report from the scene of the crash.
Bill Fulcher, team leader of enforcement programs with OSHA’s regional office in Atlanta, said the agency’s review would focus on all companies working at the site at time of the accident.
Patricia Ann Ross, of an Old Cedartown Road address, narrowly escaped injury Monday afternoon when the towering, yellow crane toppled onto the rear of her car as she was stopped on North Broad Street. She has been released from Floyd Medical Center, hospital officials said today.
Witnesses said the crane was lifting several beams that apparently came loose just before the crane collapsed.
“We are going to look at everything.
The crane, photographed at 1:23 p.m. Monday, before it fell, lifts a steel beam into place. William T. Martin / RN-T |
Anybody who had employees out there, we are going to involve in the investigation,” Fulcher said Tuesday.
It could take up to six months for OSHA to complete its review of the accident, he said.
If any federal violations are found to have occurred at the site, the agency might issue citations or impose civil penalties, Fulcher said.
Rome police Pfc. Chase Burnes saw the crane fall as he drove up Broad Street. He first noticed the crane moving rather quickly out of the corner of his eye.
“I just kept watching, and it went further and further. You could tell it wasn’t going to stop, and it went right over the car,” Burnes said
“It hit right behind her driver’s seat,” said Gary Fricks, who was watching the construction site while having lunch at the nearby Checkers restaurant. “Our newborn was in the backseat, and all I could think about was him getting hit.”
Ross, who did not appear to be seriously injured, borrowed a fireman’s phone to call her husband even as emergency workers labored to get her out of her crushed Chevrolet Lumina.
Thomas Cole, a construction worker on the site, was “on the iron” when the crane fell. He was one story up waiting for a beam to swing over.
“I was under the … thing when it fell on me,” Cole said. “There was too much weight on the end of it.”
Witnesses said the crane was lifting several beams that apparently came loose when the incident happened.
Although workers were seen falling to the ground, the crane operator was the only worker taken to the hospital, said site supervisor Neal Reynolds. His name and condition were not available Monday night, but the injuries did not appear to be serious, Reynolds said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was called to the scene.
Traffic remained blocked for hours Monday night on the southbound turning lane of North Broad Street as workers labored to take down damaged beams and clean up the site.
Another crane was called in to help remove some of the debris.
The location is the future home of a 41,000-square-foot four-story office building and parking deck being built by DLS Financial LLC.
Construction on the $3-million-plus building began in April and is set to be completed by January 2008.
Representatives from DLS Financial and Brooks Building Group, which is in charge of the site’s construction, could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Staff Writer Mike Gellatly contributed to this report.
