WorkSafe Victoria says a man’s arm was torn off at the shoulder at Traralgon last week when it was caught in a machine because it was not properly guarded.
The employee was operating a machine which peeled bark from pine logs at a treated pine processing business when the incident happened not long after he had commenced work.
Clothing was found caught up in the machine and he is now understood to be in an induced coma in hospital.
WorkSafe Victoria's executive director for safety John Merritt said the incident was a warning to all employers that machine guarding had to be the highest priority.
“There have been more than 1000 amputations in Victoria over the past five years." he said.
“The tragedy is that too many people continue to not guard machines or do not replace guarding after repairs, maintenance or cleaning.”
Among the roughly 30,000 serious injuries reported to WorkSafe Victoria each year more than 60 were considered to be life threatening.
“What this says to me is that many people survive their day at work with dreadful and often permanent injuries," Merritt said.
“They’ve gone to work and ended up in hospital for weeks, sometimes months followed, often, by years of further treatment.
“It’s impossible to know how many so-called near misses could have had a different result had circumstances been slightly different.”
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