A DEVASTATING accident which left a man paralysed highlighted a number of health and safety failures at an East Dorset firm, a court heard.

Rollalong Ltd, which manufactures modular and portable buildings at its base on the Woolsbridge Industrial Estate in Three Legged Cross, pleaded guilty at Wimborne Magistrates' Court to four breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act dating back to April 2003.

Helena Tinton, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, described an accident on September 2 last year in which a prefabricated building panel, weighing around 300kg, fell from a lifting table in the firm's composite panel shop and struck agency worker Arthur Paterson.

She added: "It forced his head through the rungs of the ladder and through the panel itself - that is through two layers of plasterboard and panel - and came to rest on some 1.2-metre paper rolls.

"Arthur Paterson was pinned under the panel with his back against the rolls.

"He is now paralysed from the shoulders down."

The court heard Mr Paterson, 44, has been in hospital for around a year, having also suffered pneumonia.

He will need constant care when he returns home.

Mrs Tinton said that, despite an earlier accident two years ago involving an employee at the firm, Rollalong had failed to implement safety measures to prevent panels falling from the lifting table.

She said the firm had no written safety procedures for the lifting table and that contents of the company's risk assessment were not communicated to Mr Paterson.

The four breaches relate to two incidents - the second was on April 8, 2003 when another agency worker, Simon Rogers, was struck on the head by a panel in the same building but was well enough to continue working.

Sarah Wheadon, defending Rollalong, said: "The company regrets the accidents.

"It's not a company that flouts its health and safety responsibilities.

"Since Mr Paterson's accident a number of modifications have been made in relation to the lifting table."

She said the machine has been slowed down and adapted with larger plinths to stop the panels falling. And she said access to the area surrounding the lifting table has since been restricted with clear signage and barriers.

The case was committed to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing on October 22 because of the gravity of the case. Magistrates could have imposed a maximum fine of £80,000.

First published: September 28