A 20-year-old driver who got caught in the operating unit of a recycling truck today is recovering after coming out of surgery.
Central police communications Inspector Mike Coleman said emergency services were called to Upton Terrace in Thorndon, Wellington shortly after 10.30am, after a member of the public found a man unconscious in a recycling truck.
He was pulled from the truck and taken to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition.
The company which managed the truck, EnviroWaste, has confirmed the incident occurred in the operating unit at the back of the truck.
EnviroWaste was contracted to the Wellington City Council to do glass recycling.
The company's managing director Gary Saunders said the 20-year-old driver, known as "Junior", had just come out of surgery and was now recovering in the intensive care unit at Wellington Hospital.
"It's been a worrying few hours for everyone... at least he has now been successfully operated on and is back in the ICU ward and has family with him.''
Mr Saunders, said he was unsure of exactly how the incident had happened, but was able to confirm it occurred in the operating unit at the back of the recycling truck.
"We don't want to speculate at this stage. Our people were at the scene but at that stage I think he had already been cut out of the vehicle.''
He said the driver had been employed with the company for six months.
"He wasn't one of our full-time, permanents. He was employed through a temp agency.''
Mr Saunders said the young man's father and brother also worked for the company, as permanent employees.
"He's probably working for us because of his family relationships.''
Mr Saunders insisted he had been through all "standard rigorous training''.
"He is fully aware of all our standard operating procedures for that particular piece of equipment.
"We don't understand. We can't fathom how he got in the position that he was in, it just doesn't make any sense. We are at a loss.''
Incidents such as this did not happen often, Mr Saunders said.
"These trucks have been specifically designed to look after the safety of the driver. We have had them in operation in both Wellington and Dunedin for around four years and we've never had an injury let alone a critical incident like this.''
WorkSafe New Zealand confirmed it had been notified of the incident. An investigation was now taking place, it said.
