17 Jan 2014

Worker crushed by logs near Gisborne

5:42 pm on 17 January 2014

Another forestry worker has been injured after being crushed by logs near Gisborne.

St John ambulance district operations manager Stephen Smith says the 25-year-old man was hit by logs and suffered serious chest injuries just after 9am on Friday.

Mr Smith said workmates put the man on a stretcher and moved him out of the area before an ambulance arrived.

The man was treated at the scene before being flown to Gisborne Hospital.

On Thursday morning, a worker was killed in an accident at Wairau Valley, while in the Bay of Plenty a man felling trees west of Ruatoki was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.

The Council of Trade Unions believes 24 forestry workers have died on the job since 2008. Last year alone, 10 died and more than 150 forestry workers were seriously injured.