The two men inspected the 0.25 tonne cap which held the piston in place and discovered it was held in place by "poor and crude welding". "The press was so heavy and was an unusual shape that it was described as a 'non-standard lift' and should have been subject to its own risk assessment", he added. "At that stage no-one had any idea what was going on under the moving table, as it had never been inspected", Judge Parry said. On May 15 2018, the press was lifted and Mr Willoughby and Mr Egan slid underneath on their backs to take a look at the underside of the press. Stuart Frazer, director of Graham Engineering Ltd (Image: LancsLive)
However on two separate occasions it was lifted onto sleepers using two fork-lift trucks - exceeding their safe working load limits by 4-5 tonnes. Mr Egan recommended the firm used specialist lifting equipment as the press was extremely heavy and an unusual design. Mr Frazer thought the Hugh Smith press would be ideal for the job, however it would need to be moved and inspected. The press remained at the site, but in 2017, Graham Engineering secured a large contract with Seimens to make components for MRI scanners. In order for the machinery to be put back into work, the piston would need to be removed and re-chromed, Mr Egan said. It was inspected by Peter Egan, who concluded it was in poor condition. Judge Parry said Graham Engineering acquired the Hugh Smith 1,000 press from a company in Ipswich in 2015. The company's director, Stuart Frazer, was cleared of the same charge - however he appeared at Preston Crown Court to represent the company at today's sentence hearing. Today (April 26) Graham Engineering Ltd was ordered to pay £645,487.82 after being found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. READ MORE: Parachute instructor 'off his head on cocaine' when he pushed girlfriend from a moving car But on Monday May 21, 2018, the popular member engineer was killed instantly when a piston came loose, crushing him as he worked underneath the press.īefore setting to work beneath the equipment, Mr Willoughby and his colleagues had been given a 'tool-box talk' but no formal risk assessment had been carried out, Judge Philip Parry said. A 'gentle giant' who was crushed to death under a 1,000 tonne hydraulic press was not protected by his employer - which has now been fined more than half a million pounds.Ĭolin Willoughby, 52, was known as the 'go-to guy for tricky engineering problems' in his role at Graham Engineering Ltd in Nelson, a court heard.
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