A housing company has been handed a huge fine after an employee suffered burns to his face after striking an underground cable.

The MHS Homes employee and colleague were repairing fences in the garden of a property in Ironside Close, Chatham, on January 10 last year when one of them was injured.

The pair, Dean Dawes and Aaron Dawes, had already repaired two of the posts before striking a cable as they broke through concrete while trying to fix the third.

An investigation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found they were also close to a gas line which could have led to a fire or explosion “with the potential to kill not only the employees but members of the public nearby”, as well as destroying the property.

MHS Homes, which is based in Chatham, failed to provide employees with information on the location of the cables and gas pipe, or provide them with the tools to safely excavate around it.

HSE found the company often excavated the ground but they never provided any information to employees on the location of underground services and did not provide suitable equipment to detect and safely excavate underground services.

On Tuesday, chief executive Ashley Hook pled guilty to the offence of contravening a health and safety regulation and the firm was fined £528,000. The company must also pay £4,122 in costs following a sentencing hearing this afternoon.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Peter Bruce, said: “Underground services are widespread and represent a significant risk. It is important measures are taken to identify them before any excavation work is undertaken.

“On this occasion, an electrical cable was struck and a worker suffered minor injuries. However it could have been much worse and potentially fatal.

“Those excavating the ground need to ensure that they obtain service plans prior to the work taking place. It is also vital that employees are provided with the correct tools and detection equipment to do their work safely.”

MHS Homes chief executive Ashley Hook said: “MHS Homes has pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured during the incident, but we accept that safe working practices were not complied with on this occasion.

“We self-reported the incident immediately to the HSE and we’ve cooperated fully with their investigation. We also commissioned an independent review of our health and safety policies and procedures.

“We have learnt lessons from this incident to make sure it can never happen again.”