Engineering company fined £80k after ‘caring and loving’ man killed

A Blackburn-based engineering company has been fined £80,000 after a man, described as ‘caring and loving’ by his family, was killed after being crushed under a machine.
Connor Borthwick, from Wigan, was working for Partwell Special Steels Limited at its site in Bruce Street when the incident happened on November 25, 2021.
The 22-year-old and another employee were moving a large cutting press machine across a workshop floor when it became unbalanced, resulting in Connor being fatally crushed.
Speaking on behalf of the family, his sister Emily said Connor was her “amazing, caring, loving and funny little brother”.
She said: “Everyone loved Connor.
“He was a good soul, and this was evident from the more than 700 people who came to his funeral to pay their respects and share their personal accounts of how Connor had touched their lives.
“He was 22, life hadn’t begun for him, and it was over.”
She added: “Some simple steps should have been taken and weren’t, if they were Connor would be with us today.
“It’s hard to explain to people what we have been through, are going through. We don’t want another family to go through what we have.”
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Connor and his colleague were attempting to move the machine across the workshop, using skates placed underneath.
However, as the machine was being lowered by a jack onto one of the skates, it became unbalanced and fell backwards onto Connor, trapping him beneath. He suffered catastrophic crush injuries and subsequently passed away.
The investigation also found that Partwell Special Steels Limited, of Stanley Street, Blackburn, had not undertaken an assessment of the risks involved with moving the machine and that the task had not been suitably planned and no safe system of work had been provided to the employees.
Additionally, it was found that neither employee 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 company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £80,000 and was ordered to pay £6,713 in costs at a hearing at Preston Magistrates Court on December 16, 2024.
HSE Inspector, Anthony Banks, said: “This company’s failures resulted in the death of a much loved young man.
“Those in control of work activities, including the movement of heavy machinery from one part of a site to another, need to assess the risks of that work, and plan a safe way to undertake it.
“This tragic incident could have easily been avoided with the right controls in place.
“My thoughts remain with Connor’s family.”
The prosecution was supported by HSE enforcement lawyer Sam Crockett and paralegal officer Gabrielle O’Sullivan.