Two companies have been fined after a female worker was struck by scaffolding at a building project in Dorchester.

Zero C Holdings Limited of Armitage House, Poundbury, Dorchester has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13 (1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It has been fined £145,000 with £3,500 in costs.

Carter Training (services) Ltd of Budleigh Hill, East Budleigh, Devon has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8 (1) Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. It has been fined £18,000 with £3,500 in costs.

Weymouth Magistrates’ Court heard how employees of Carter Training were using a mobile crane at the scheme in Queen Mothers Square, Poundbury.

However, the attachment holding 500 scaffolding fittings weighing 2kg each was turned on its side, emptying all contents onto workers and the concrete flooring 10.5 metres below.

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The 44-year-old worker suffered two fractures to her left shoulder blade, a fracture to her left collar bone, a cut to the back of her head and bruising.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the stillage attachment used on the crane was not suitable for lifting heavy and large amounts of scaffolding. Lifting the scaffolding directly above a number of contractors working below also put them at risk of harm.

In addition, principal contractor Zero C Holdings was found to have failed to carry out an audit of all lifting plans and as a result failed to manage the risks associated with this lifting activity. The contractor also did not have clear lines of communication between the lifting company Carter Training and contractors working on the site below.

HSE inspector Nicole Buchanan said: "The worker is very lucky that her injuries were not life threatening. Both Zero C Holdings and Carter Training put a number of workers at risk of harm when they failed to plan or identify the risks of heavy lifting.

"This case highlights the need for duty holders to properly plan all lifting operations before work is carried out to manage the risk of injury to workers. Lifting directly above workers is inherently unsafe and should be avoided wherever possible."

(LM/MH)