2 iron workers hurt in 20-foot fall at Facebook site

Two iron workers who were helping to construct a Facebook building in Menlo Park were injured after a “catastrophic failure” caused them to fall about 20 feet, authorities said.

Firefighters and emergency crews responded at 5:28 p.m. Wednesday to Facebook’s Building 21 near the Bayfront Expressway. The two workers, whose names were not released, were standing on a steel beam assembling the building’s steel framing when the beam dropped and catapulted them, authorities said, citing witness statements.

The iron workers had been about 40 feet above the ground before the fall, authorities said. Fellow workers moved the two injured men away from the collapse before emergency crews arrived. Both men were conscious, but had significant lower-body pain and puncture wounds, authorities said.

They received care on scene and were taken to Stanford Hospital and Trauma Center. One of the victims was in his late 20s and the other in his early 30s, authorities 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,” said Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

Numerous steel upright and cross beams were damaged in the collapse. State workplacesafety regulators will conduct an investigation before work continues on the building, Schapelhouman said.

Work on the 520,000square-foot building is led by Level 10 Construction of Sunnyvale. Facebook’s Building 21

is part of a proposal to add two buildings that was approved by Menlo Park in November. The proposal includes 962,400 square feet of office space, as well as a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Bayfront Expressway. The injured workers were employees of Schuff Steel of Phoenix. Chronicle staff writer Steve Rubenstein contributed to this report.