Personal injury news

Man recovers in hospital from industrial injury

A New Zealand man was taken to hospital with an industrial injury after a stray piece of wood pierced through his jaw.

The 33-year-old escaped a near fatal accident when a 30cm long piece of wood flew off a colleague's saw at the Mount Joinery Ltd workshop on the 10th October.

The man was flown to Waikato Hospital following the industrial accident and was operated on by specialist surgeons, who removed the piece of wood from his jawbone.

Jonty Aitken was using the saw at the time of the accident and said that he had never seen a piece of wood fly off his machinery before.

"I've never seen anything like it, even at trade school when they show you horror slides.

"He was five metres away when it struck him. He wasn't able to talk at the time, he was still conscious. We were talking to him just trying to keep him calm."

An ambulance spokesperson for the St John Western Bay area said, "The wood had gone through his neck about 2cm under his left ear, there was about 12 inches of it still sticking out of his neck. It appeared that it had gone almost right through his neck, upwards towards his mouth and jaw."

Despite the seriousness of the accident, the man was said to be recovering well from his industrial injury.

An Occupational Safety and Health spokesperson said that an investigation has been launched into the work accident.