Newburn man loses arm in industrial accident

Jun 20 2009 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

A WORKER has lost his arm in an industrial accident. The father was last night in a critical condition in hospital following the incident at an asphalt production plant in Newburn, Newcastle, on Thursday night.

The man, who is in his 60s and works for Tynedale Roadstone Limited, on Riversdale Court, was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital.

He was taken into theatre, but there was nothing surgeons could do to save his arm.

He was transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit during the early hours of this morning.

The incident is being treated as an industrial accident and is now being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.

HSE inspectors visited the plant yesterday.

Police and paramedics were called to the site at around 8.30pm. The scene of the accident was secured and police spent more than three hours carrying out a forensic examination of the scene to establish if any crime had been committed. But the incident is now being treated as an accident and police passed their findings on to the HSE.

DCI Irwin Smart from Etal Lane CID said: “Police were called to a serious industrial accident.

“We received the call at 8.33pm. A man was taken to Newcastle General Hospital and has lost his arm.

“He was taken into theatre and then transferred to intensive care.

“We were involved in gathering forensic evidence and preserving the scene.

“An inquiry will be carried out by the Health and Safety Executive, and everything we have done will now be passed on to them.”

A spokeswoman for the HSE added: “Inspectors from the HSE have visited the site and an investigation has been launched.”

Tynedale Roadstone Ltd is a privately- owned business which specialises in producing road surfaces, and operates throughout the North East.

The new plant in Newburn was opened in 2006.

A spokesman for the company said: “An accident took place at Tynedale Roadstone Limited and it is now being investigated.”