Engineer crushed trying to move machine - coroner

A young engineer was killed at work when a machine fell on top of him as he tried to move it in an act which had not been risk-assessed, an inquest has found.

Connor Borthwick died in the incident while working in his role as a maintenance engineer at Partwell Special Steels Limited in Blackburn, Lancashire, in November 2021.

Recording a narrative conclusion, Lancashire Coroner Kate Bisset found the 22-year-old and a colleague were trying to move a large beam press machine on to skates when it toppled over, causing him fatal abdominal and pelvic injuries.

"The act of moving the machine had not been risk assessed prior to the attempt," the coroner said.

Partwell Special Steels was fined £80,000 last year over the incident by the Health and Safety Executive.

The executive's investigation found neither Mr Borthwick, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, or his colleague had been provided with "suitable and sufficient training to ensure they had the necessary relevant competence to undertake the task".

"A suitable and sufficient assessment of the suitability of the work equipment provided would have shown that the skates used were unsuitable for this work," the executive said in a statement last year.

In a statement, Mr Borthwick's sister described him as her "amazing, caring, loving and funny little brother".

She said "some simple steps should have been taken" by his workplace to prevent his death.

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