Three construction companies have been fined by thousands of pounds after a worker received major injuries on a building site.

Michael Doyle, 49, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, employee of Derby-based contractor firm Shaw Group UK Ltd, has not returned to work since he suffered multiple serious injuries after being crushed by a falling section of 4.5 tonne conveyer on a development site.

The site’s project saw two Danish firms - Burmeister and Wain Energy (BWE) and Burmeister and Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC) construct the Sleaford Renewable Energy plant on Boston Road, aiming to provide heat for a number of local authority buildings via burning straw and wood.

Shaw Group UK had been subcontracted by BWE to install a boiler and associated equipment, including a conveyor system to carry straw bales on the site.

In order to fix sections of conveyor into place, workers needed to remove the skates fixed to the bottom of the sections. This was done successfully on the first three sections, however, on the fourth section, one side lowered faster than the other, which resulted in the conveyor swinging towards Mr Doyle and trapping him underneath.

Shaw Group had produced a risk assessment for this procedure but did not consider the removal of the skates from the legs of the conveyor sections. This omission was not picked up by BWE.

HSE Inspector, Martin Giles, said “Shaw Group UK Ltd’s risk assessment was flawed, and its management and monitoring of the task was not sufficient to identify potential problems and stop the work in the four days before Mr Doyle was hurt.”

“The actual method of work followed by its employees was unsafe and led to Mr Doyle’s injuries when the load overturned.

Regulation breaches by all three companies were discovered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). As a result, Shaw Group was fined a total of £17,350 along with costs of £1,710. BWSC of Gydevang 35, Denmark was fined £4,670 along with costs of £1,710 and BWE of Luntoftegardsvej 93A, Denmark was ordered to pay £5,350 with costs of £1,710.

Inspector Giles stated that BWSC’s management of the site was poor, as each of the main contractors ran their own areas of the site as they desired. The site had up to 300 people working at any one time.

“The failure to ensure work was carried out safely on the slope was symptomatic of more general failures which were the responsibility of  principal contractor BWSC in setting the rules, procedures and checks needed to manage a large site. These failures put all the workers on site at risk,” said Martin.