WorkCover is investigating an industrial accident at BlueScope Steel's Port Kembla site in which a man's leg was partially severed yesterday.
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The 42-year-old man had been working as part of a three-man crew to replace an attachment on a 20-tonne rock breaker, known as a woodpecker, about 7.50am when the accident occurred.
Wollongong Police Acting Inspector Don Faulds said an attachment, weighing about 1.5 tonnes, struck the man, throwing him on to a wooden pallet.
The man was then briefly pinned down by the attachment, which crushed and partially severed his left leg.
The man was conscious throughout the incident, Insp Faulds said.
Two ambulance paramedic crews were called to the scene, near the north gate of the complex.
Fire and Rescue NSW heavy rescue and pump rescue units from Wollongong also attended.
By the time emergency crews got there, a driver had managed to raise the piece of equipment off the worker.
After paramedics stabilised the man, he was flown to St George Hospital in a serious condition.
A spokesman for WorkCover said that an inspector had been sent to the site following the accident.
A BlueScope spokesman said the man was employed by a contractor working in the company's refractories department.
"Further details are not available at this time, and an investigation into the incident is under way," he said.
Late yesterday the man remained in a serious but stable condition in hospital.