PEABODY — A contractor was medflighted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston Saturday after falling approximately 25 feet into an empty silo at the Rousselot Factory in Peabody.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Richard Nelson, the injured man, who was in his mid-thirties, likely fell from the catwalk above the silo.
Nelson reported that the man had broken one arm in the fall and possibly injured another, and that he appeared to have sustained a head injury as well.
Peabody Police were contacted about the incident at 4:37 p.m. and the Peabody Fire Department was notified shortly thereafter. Both departments arrived on the scene and the Fire Department was able to remove the man from the silo using a crane.
The Fire Department notified Medflight, a non-profit organization that provides emergency scene response at the critical care level, at 4:55 p.m. which landed a helicopter at South Memorial School for the evacuation.
At around 6 p.m. the contractor was transported by ambulance to the helicopter, which then carried him to Tufts Medical.
The factory, purchased by the international collagen and gelatin manufacturer Rousselot in 2011, has been in operation for 137 years and employs about 100 workers.
The Fire Department also notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency tasked with ensuring safe work conditions, who conducted an investigation into the incident.
