Probe launched as worker is crushed (From Daily Echo)

Probe launched as worker is crushed

9:27am Thursday 13th September 2012 in New Forest By Chris Yandell, Chief Reporter, New Forest

A WORKER was seriously ill in intensive care last night after he was crushed in an accident at a Hampshire waste disposal company.

Richard Mintram was working on a hydraulic platform on the Cadland Industrial Estate, near Hythe , when he was trapped against an overhead gantry.

Health and safety chiefs have launched an investigation into the incident, which left him with serious crush injuries to his upper body.

All three emergency services were called to Tradebe – one of Britain’s biggest waste disposal companies – just before 10am yesterday.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance had been deployed elsewhere, which meant a similar helicopter serving the Thames Valley had to be drafted in from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.

Mr Mintram, 44, of Hythe, was flown to Southampton General Hospital . Last night his condition was described as serious but stable.

Police said he was working on a lifting device known as a cherry picker when the accident happened. He was crushed between the machine and an overhead gantry and suffered what were initially described as life-threatening injuries.

Mr Mintram had been freed from the equipment by the time fire crews from Beaulieu and Hardley arrived.

But a Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said firefighters helped paramedics administer emergency first aid.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched an investigation into the incident and has already visited the site to carry out preliminary inquiries.

A Tradebe spokesman said Mr Mintram was an electromechanical maintenance technician who worked for the company.

She added: “Medical assistance was quickly on the scene of the accident and the injured man was taken to Southampton General Hospital at approximately 11.15am by air ambulance. Richard’s family has been informed of the accident.”

Tradebe’s high-temperature incinerator is one of only two in the UK.