ATLANTA -- 11Alive has confirmed OSHA has launched an investigation into the Thursday afternoon crane collapse in Atlanta.
It happened Thursday afternoon at the construction site of the future CityPlace, a massive Buckhead Apartment project.
Atlanta firefighters rescued six stranded workers after a large crane broke in half. The workers were trapped on the 5th floor of an unfinished parking deck without a way to get down. No one was injured. No other nearby structures were damaged.
Construction resumed on the rest of the project, but crews stayed clear of the seven-story parking deck where the collapsed crane still lies. A spokesman with the construction company tell's 11Alive's Ryan Kruger that part of the project is on hold while they investigate what happened. OSHA is also continuing their investigation.
Kruger did some digging and found the construction company, JE Dunn, has run into trouble with OSHA as recently as this year. In March, OSHA fined the company $14,000 for three violations. Investigators said the company didn't have proper fall protection systems in place at a multifamily housing project off Cumberland Parkway. JE Dunn is contesting those fines.
We also discovered the company received a whopping $45,000 fine back in 2013 for what was called repeated asbestos violations.
The return to growth has accompanied a return of crane problems in Metro Atlanta. Thursday's collapse is at least the third crane accident to happen in the area this year. In February, a construction worker was injured when a crane tipped over at Pinewood Atlanta Studios. Just a month later, a giant crane toppled over onto a carport in Kennesaw. Fortunately no one was injured in that accident.
Dan Kaufman with JE Dunn released the following statement:
Safety on JE Dunn projects has been a priority in our more than ninety years of constructing buildings. We have completed many projects of similar or more difficult conditions and are confident this project will be completed in a safe manner. Once we fully understand what caused the accident with this subcontractor's crane, we will put measures in place to guard against such accidents.
