But there were some positives that came out of it: the machinery he was using at the time was outlawed, and his whole mindset to life changed.
That included his approach to safety,
so when he decided to venture out on his own and establish his own concrete cutting company, Accurate Cutting, he embraced the latest technology.
Several years ago, Mr Buckby bought a Swedish-made Brokk 160, a remote-controlled demolition machine which has been dubbed "Peter".
The first and only one in New Zealand, it has a digital remote control that takes the danger out of demolition by allowing the licensed operator to control the unit from a safe distance, up to 300m away.
Among its recent jobs, the $250,000 machine has been used to assist with major work on the University of Otago’s Hayward College.
Mr Buckby established Accurate Cutting in 2003, having previously worked for another concrete cutting firm. A fitter and welder by trade, he had also worked in a tannery.
It was in 2000 that a kick-back from a saw across his chest landed him in hospital for three months.
While at home recuperating, he started looking on the internet at equipment that was available to the industry.
There had been the "old Kiwi way" of "we’ve always used that" and looking at what was available got him thinking, he said.
Eventually, he decided to go into business himself and initially thought it would be a small operation, working much shorter hours than he had been used to.
But within about a month, the workload exploded and staffing numbers had grown to between about 12 and 14.
They included Jason Whipp, the first fully qualified concrete cutter in New Zealand, who recently completed all the unit standards for the national certificate in concrete construction (sawing and drilling). Mr Buckby’s wife did the administration side of the business.
The firm carried out concrete cutting and sawing, core drilling and demolition work and had been involved in some "massive projects", Mr Buckby said.
The Brokk had replaced two staff members and enabled the business to "do things smarter". It was able to climb stairs, did not make the noise of a jack-hammer and was able to complete a variety of work, from driving piles to digging trenches and pulling down ceilings.
It removed the need to have to physically carry blocks of concrete and there had been no strains or injuries among staff for three years, he said.
