LATEST: Man burned at Tipperary creamery was working on 'hot milk' pipe system
By David Raleigh
A man who sustained serious burns to his body at Arrabawn Co-Op, in Nenagh, was carrying out work on a "hot milk" pipe system at the time, sources revealed.
A Health and Safety Authority investigation is underway into the incident which took place around 8.30pm, Friday night.
The man was brought by local civil defence members to MacDonagh Park gaa grounds, Nenagh, and airlifted to Cork University Hospital by the Coast Guard 115 rescue helicopter crew.
The man is said to be an employee of the Arrabawn Group, from Nenagh, and aged in his 40s.
"It appears that worker was burned while working on hot milk pipe system," said a reliable source.
"The injured man is an employee of Arrabawn, in his late forties, from Nenagh."
A HSA inspector was due to visit the site of the workplace accident Saturday.
The Arrabawn Co-Op in Nenagh, which is the headquarters for the Arrabawn Group, is a leading provider of dairy produce to the Kerrygold brand, and also produces animal feeds products.
Gardai confirmed the man "was in the creamery" at the time, and that he "received burns".
Coast Guard rescue helicopter 115, which earlier in the day had been tasked to perform an airlift form Inishmore Aran Island to University Hospital Galway, transported the seriously injured worker from Nenagh to CUH around 9.10pm.
Sources said the man was in a serious condition, and was being flown to the specialist burns unit in CUH for treatment.
Reliable sources said the man was "seriously injured" after he was "burnt in an accident".
A spokesperson at the Arrabawn Group plant said they had "no comment" to make.
The Arrabawn Co-Op was founded in 2001 following the merger of Nenagh Co-Op and Mid-West Farmer's Co-Op.
The group is comprised of an agri-business division, a food ingredients divisions and a dairy division.
An investigation has begun into an accident at a creamery in County Tipperary on Friday night.
A man was airlifted to hospital in Cork following the incident at the Arrabawn Co-Op in Nenagh.
In a statement today, the company confirmed that a staff-member had suffered serious injuries.
They said their thoughts are with him and his family, and added that they are co-operating fully with a Health and Safety Authority investigation which is getting underway today.
