Photo: Contributed - Interior Health

A Kelowna General Hospital employee was released from the hospital Thursday after a serious incident on the job left him hospitalized for six days.

The man was working in the laundry section of the hospital on Aug. 21 about 7:30 p.m. when he was seriously injured.

The man was crushed by a presser machine, used to transport linens to driers and suffered multiple broken ribs, according to an unconfirmed report.

A 16-year-old woman discovered the man with his feet hanging out from the presser, his torso fully contained within. He was unconscious when he was found, according to the report.

Alan Davies, Interior Health’s director for support services, could only confirm an employee was involved in a crushing incident last Friday evening at the hospital, but he could not go into details regarding the man’s injuries due to patient confidentiality.

“He was participating in the typical laundry duties,” Davies said.

The man was released from hospital Thursday and is recovering at home. He has worked for Interior Health since last November.      

This is the first time there has been an accident stemming from the use of that particular machine.

“We’ve had that equipment in place since 1996, and this is the first accident related to that equipment, so it’s quite unusual for us,” Davies said.

A WorkSafeBC investigation of the incident should be complete by next week.

“We’ll be taking some recommendations from them and hopefully coming up with some of our own … to make any necessary safety improvements to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Davies said.

The laundry at KGH could be phased out as Interior Health looks to privatize laundry services throughout its region.