A man impaled on a hook from a piece of equipment at a meat processing plant in the Bay of Plenty has been taken to Tauranga Hospital in a moderate condition.
Ambulance spokesman Norm Ngatai said staff were alerted to the incident at the AFFCO meat works in Paengaroa about 7.10pm.
"A man in his 40s [has been] impaled by a spreader. A spreader is what keeps the...legs of a cow open.
"He's been caught up on that through the back of the head into the face."
It took staff about an hour-and-a-half to remove him from the hook safely, Mr Ngatai said.
His condition then improved, and he was taken to hospital in a moderate condition.
