by Jamie Bullen
jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

A landfill site worker's arm has been ripped off by an industrial-sized conveyor belt, it was revealed today.

The 43-year-old suffered the horrific injury when his limb got tangled in machinery at Pinden Quarry in Longfield.

His left hand and forearm were severed on December 20.

A crew from South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the Green Street Green Road site after being called at 1.30pm.

Kent Air Ambulance was also called upon to fly the man, who lives in Gravesend, to Royal London Hospital to receive specialist treatment.

A spokesman for waste recycling and management firm Pinden said the injured man had returned home on Christmas Eve.

He added the worker, employed through Kent Staff Services agency, was not operating the machinery at the time of the incident, but had been working inside a picking station.

Mike Wilcock, head of operations for the Health and Safety Executive in the South East, said: “Employers have a legal duty to protect their workers and I would encourage them to make it their New Year’s resolution to ensure they continue to take sensible precautions to prevent incidents in the workplace.”

Mr Wilcock said there had been an increase in the amount of workplace accidents in 2010.

But latest figures reveal that 55 major workplace injuries happened in Dartford, the same amount as the previous year, while Gravesend saw an increase of one accident at 38.