Stop-Work Order Issued at Miami Construction Project After 6 Workers Injured

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Construction was halted Thursday at a Miami construction site where six workers were hurt when a load of rebar fell from a crane, officials said.

A stop-work order was issued for the Brickell 57-floor property, which is a joint venture between the British construction firm Ant Yapi and Miami Beach’s Civic Construction, the Miami Herald reported. The site will become the second-tallest building in Miami.

Miami Fire Rescue crews were called to the site Wednesday after the heavy steel fell, impaling two workers and injuring four others.

The crews used tools to cut through the steel and free the trapped workers. Five of the six workers were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. Names and updated conditions were not released Thursday.

Civic Construction said in a statement that the workers were “alert and conscious” at the hospital.

“The safety of our workers and contractors is always our highest priority and we are cooperating with the (city of Miami) building department and OSHA in an internal investigation to determine the cause of today’s incident and to prevent it from occurring again,” the statement said.

Miami’s building director Asael “Ace” Marrero said that before construction can resume, his office must receive three reports – one from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, one from the site’s structural engineer, and another from the shoring engineer. At that point, a meeting will be scheduled to make sure any concerns have been addressed.

Civic Construction told the newspaper on Thursday evening that they have completed reports from the structural engineer and the shoring engineer and were awaiting OSHA’s report.