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A scaffolder has been left with life-changing injuries after a workplace accident left him trapped for 20 minutes under a two-tonne weight.

Colin Dell, from New Romney, had to have two toes amputated and now walks with a permanent limp following the incident at Dungeness B power station.

EDF and Trillium Services LTD were sentenced yesterday at Folkestone Magistrates Court and fined a combined £633,333 over health and safety breaches.

Mr Dell, 62, was working near the main cooling water discharge valves on June 13, 2022, when the accident occurred.

While he was measuring up, an unsupported two-tonne counterweight fell from a cooling pump, striking Mr Dell’s hand and foot.

He was left trapped in a sitting position, screaming in pain for 20 minutes before he was airlifted to Wiliam Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where he remained for four days.

He suffered permanent damage from the accident, with two toes being amputated, while one was bruised and another broken.

Mr Dell has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers from constant pain in his foot, hip and back.

Speaking to KentOnline, he said: “I’ve come to work on a Monday, and I’ve left in an ambulance.

“I walk with a permanent limp now that affects my hip and back. I’ve put on loads of weight.

“It’s more or less disabled me out of scaffolding. I’ve been able to get a job as a labourer and forklift driver for the people I used to fix with, but it’s quite demoralising.”

Mr Dell says he is now anxious all the time at work.

“I used to be a big roughty-toughty scaffolder, but I’ve taken a mighty hammering,” he said.

“I have to do grounding techniques every morning just to get through the day. I’m still on antidepressants and painkillers”

Mr Dell says it has also put a big strain on his relationship with his partner as “she’s the only one I can really share that with”.

He added: “The thing is, I’m 62 years old, and I feel trapped now because there’s nowhere else I could go and earn the same sort of money or retrain.”

Mr Dell also expressed frustration with how long it took for justice to be served and the “anxious build-up” he experienced following several court adjournments.

Both EDF and Trillium Flow Services Ltd pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for failing to ensure workers' safety in relation to risks arising while performing maintenance and repair work.

District Judge Stephen Leake ruled that EDF must pay a fine of £533,333, and Trillium was fined £100,000. Both were also handed prosecution costs of £15,034.73.

The companies were classed as a “very large organisations” as part of the judge’s sentencing determination, which impacts the level of costs they could be asked to pay.

After the hearing, Dan Hasted, the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR) director of regulation - operating facilities division, said: “We welcome this outcome, which recognises that EDF and Trillium Flow Services Ltd failed in their duty to protect a worker from a known risk.

“This accident was wholly avoidable. Nobody should go to work and not come home in a fit and healthy state.”

Dungeness B, on Romney Marsh, has four main cooling water pumps which provide seawater to the main condensers – and each of these pumps is fitted with a discharge valve.

Those valves are driven by hydraulic rams, and if the power supply is lost to the ram, a counterweight closes the valves.

But following maintenance work to remove a valve, a replacement ram was then not put in place.

The ONR’s probe revealed a number of significant failings on the part of EDF in the lead-up to the accident and a lack of learning from a similar incident at Dungeness B in 2006.

Mr Hasted said: “We conducted a thorough investigation that identified significant shortcomings by EDF and Trillium Flow Services Ltd, specifically their failure to follow the correct sequence for re-fitting the valve, which resulted in the injuries to Mr Dell.

“We concluded that several missed opportunities could have prevented this accident from occurring.”

The ONR also found that Trillium Flow Services Ltd was responsible for multiple failings.

These included an unsuitable and insufficient risk assessment, a relatively inexperienced team working on the main counterweight valves at the site, a lack of understanding of the valves' operation, and evidence of ill-informed decision-making.

An EDF spokesperson said: “This was an accident which should never have occurred as safety is our over-riding priority.

“EDF today apologises to Mr Dell for its part in the injury caused and for failing to meet our rigorous safety standards.

“The event serves as a reminder that we must always be vigilant to any risk that could occur at our power stations.

“EDF has ensured the points highlighted by the ONR have been fed into our process at all our sites and power stations to ensure everyone working at all our stations can work safely.”

Since the incident, onsite training programmes on operating the four valves in the main cooling pits have taken place. Two valves have now been removed as part of the site’s progression towards full decommissioning.

All Dungeness B staff have also undertaken training on supervising contractors working on EDF sites.

Trillium Flow Services Ltd has been contacted for comment.

The ONR says the incident was a conventional health and safety matter, and there was no radiological risk to the public.