Demolition worker hit on head by 20m steel girder

Grant Prior 14 years ago
Share

A Halifax demolition contractor was fined today after a worker was left with devastating injuries when he was struck by a metal girder.

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.”

Latest news

Three Keltbray managers took £600,000 in bribes

Site managers convicted for taking kickbacks from labour supply specialist
7 hours ago

Bidding starts for £1bn YORcivil major works deal

Eight firms face fight to renew places on big civils framework
8 hours ago

ECF clinches deal for Hull 850-home urban village

East Bank waterside village plan advances
22 hours ago

Maintenance firm Cardo in second Scottish acquisition

North Lanarkshire property maintenance firm Rodgers & Johnston bought
7 hours ago

Kier confirms £41m Salford Uni health building job

Work starts on specialist three storey teaching building
9 hours ago

Passenger train derailed after hitting track left by Colas workers

Contractor and Network Rail asked to make improvements after accident
21 hours ago

Bryson signs £6m safety products deal with Skanska

Safety specialist becomes sole supplier to contracting giant
20 hours ago

Murphy wins £120m St Fergus gas compressor project

Three low emission compressor units to be installed for National Gas
17 hours ago

Blenheim House payout hopes fade as claims hit £33m

Suggested 10p in the £1 payout for subcontractors now unlikely
1 day ago

£1.3bn decarbonising and fire safety deals out for bid

South East Consortium starts hunt for firms for housing upgrade work prize
1 day ago

£30m turnover M&E contractor files administration notice

TNA Electrical makes administration application
1 day ago

Plan for first big offices at £1.7bn Manchester innovation hub

500,000 sq ft of offices planned at renamed Sister development
1 day ago

Murphy starts work on £2.5bn Eastern Green Link 1

Giant subsea electricity cable project will take three years to build
1 day ago

Subcontractors wanted for work across Birmingham

Latest Constructionline event: Register now
1 day ago

Acheson Construction files administration notice

£53m turnover South West contractor lodges court notice
2 days ago

Hunt for 10 firms to deliver £37bn new hospital plan

Race starts for mega-framework with pledge to spread work among all firms
2 days ago

Springfield to build homes for army of green energy workers

Scottish house builder sells 2,480 plots to Barratt Redrow in strategy switch
2 days ago

Preferred bidder for Stoke city centre scheme

Genr8 Kajima to build Etruscan Square scheme in Hanley
2 days ago

BAM go-ahead for £56m Glasgow leisure centre

Work to start on East Renfrewshire complex later this year
2 days ago

Network Rail fined £3.75m after double track worker death

Michael Lewis and Gareth Delbridge were killed while working on rail line in Wales
5 days ago

Local contractor Castle lands £60m South Shields campus

Work to start this summer on new home for South Tyneside College and South Shields Marine School
5 days ago

GRAHAM wins £100m deal after safety regulator approval

Dyecoats scheme in Leeds becomes one of first to receive Building Safety Act Gateway 2 green light
6 days ago

London Super Sewer now fully connected

10-year construction programme draws to a close
5 days ago

McLaren signs off £125m London Bank over-station job

Developer Helical secures funding deal for 8-storey office job
5 days ago

Work on Labour’s new towns to start by 2029

More than 100 sites put forward for a dozen new town locations
6 days ago

Unite hails 12 years without a site accident at Battersea

More than 4,000 union members have worked on the redevelopment without a single serious accident
5 days ago

Housing orders surge offers hope after 5.2% new work fall last year

Housing orders surged 24% in final quarter of 2024 as developers release schemes
6 days ago

McLaren Property gets new Construction Director

Jon Mangham joins from Equans
6 days ago

BAM Construction suffers £40m loss after Co-op Live setback

Civils business profit surges 24% to £80m
6 days ago

Over 150 jobs axed as J S Wright goes under

Insolvency specialist FRP Advisory goes in at Birmingham M&E specialist
6 days ago

Contractor services