Gareth Dodds, from South Shields, Tyne & Wear, was working on a demolition site in Rossington, near Doncaster, when he was hit on the head by a 20-metre steel girder being moved by a hydraulic excavator in November 2008.

His employer James Hudson Demolition Ltd appeared at Doncaster Crown Court today following an HSE investigation.

The court heard that on the day of the incident,  Dodds, then 28, was one of four workers on site at the former All Saints School in Rossington, South Yorkshire.

Demolition of a building had been underway for some time which involved the men working close to the excavators, moving materials around.

Employees were sorting materials on the site and there were no safeguards in place to keep them a safe distance from the machines and their loads.

Dodds was hit by the girder as it was being moved. He suffered extensive head injuries and fractured vertebrae. More than two years after the incident he is still suffering the effects of his life-changing injuries.

James Hudson Demolition Ltd of Browside Farm, Medley Lane, Northowram, Halifax, pleaded guilty to safety charges and was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Rob Cooper said: “Because of this lack of care, Mr Dodds was unwittingly in an area he should not have been in. Sadly he suffered terrible injuries as a result, but he could have lost his life.

“We hope today’s prosecution serves as a reminder to all employers that they have a duty to protect their workers at all times.”