Brothers fined after digger accident on building site

Andrew Trezise, 56, suffered a broken pelvis and serious leg injuries in the accident last August.

Partners Bryan Kendra and Michael Kendra, of L & S Kendra & Sons, Meadow Bank, Melbourne, East Yorkshire, were each fined 9,000 and each ordered to pay 2,500 in costs after both men pleaded guilty at Beverley Magistrates' Court to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The court heard that last July Bryan Kendra was driving the 360 degree excavator when it caught and reversed over Mr Trezise's leg.

Mr Trezise, from Pocklington, who had worked for the Kendras for 11 years, was airlifted to hospital where he spent the next five weeks. He still needs further surgery.

The accident, at a building site in Seaton Ross, sparked an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.

The court was told the accident happened when it was raining and that could have affected visibility from the digger.

It heard that "simple measures" – using a signaller to oversee the digger reversing and cones and tape to separate the digger from pedestrians – would have avoided the accident.

Magistrates were told Mr Trezise was now able to walk short distances with a stick. But there was no prospect of him returning to work in the forseeable future.

After the hearing Inspector Geoff Clark said: "Andrew Trezise should have been able to carry out his duties on the construction site without being seriously injured.

"L & S Kendra and Sons failed to have proper systems in place at the site to restrict and control the movement of the digger."