Morgan and manager Gordon Holt faced magistrates in Liverpool after the HSE found dangerous working practices in 2005.
 
An HSE inspector found two Morgan employees working in an unsupported excavation, approximately two metres deep at a site in Liverpool City Centre. Holt and the firm were fined £11,000 and ordered to pay £9,000 costs.
 
HSE inspector Neil Jamieson said: "There was a high risk of collapse and consequent injury given that spoil was stored immediately adjacent to the excavation sides, an excavator was also operating in close proximity to the edge, and the risks were further accentuated from vibration emanating from the nearby Liverpool Underground Railway System.
 
During the last five years HSE had made two visits to sites where Morgan was carrying out excavation work. The HSe said it was concerned as people were working in deep, unsupported excavations."