A Llanelli construction firm has been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a concrete beam.
The employee, from Carmarthen, was working with a colleague for W A Bowler Ltd. on the installation of a beam and block floor at Hillside Care Home in the Uplands area of Swansea on 10 March 2010.
The injured man was at one end of a 174 kilogram beam, and his co-worker was at the other end. They were using lifting straps to manually hoist the beam into position when the colleague accidentally let go of one end of the beam, causing it to fall downwards and hit the concrete beneath.
The see-saw effect created caused the end of the five-metre long beam he was holding to hit him in the groin and throw him upwards. He suffered a hairline fracture to his pelvis and paralysis to the nerve endings in his left leg.
W A Bowler Limited of Highmead House, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. It was fined £3,000 with costs of £4,847.35.