The exact circumstances of an accident in which two logging contractors were seriously injured at Mt Allan, near Dunedin, yesterday, is being worked through by an inspector from the Department of Labour.
The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter and another helicopter responded to the 11.15am call to retrieve the men, aged 18 and 34, from Wenita Forest Products' Mt Allan forestry.
The men were flown to Dunedin Hospital, one with serious head injuries, the other with bad cuts to his face and throat.
Because of their injuries and their location in a steep gully, both had to be winched out on stretchers, rescue helicopter advanced paramedic Dave Hay said.
Wenita chief executive Dave Cormack said the men were "breaking out" logs when the accident happened.
Breaking out was a dangerous job that involved hooking logs lying on relatively steep ground on to cables that would then drag them away.
Details of what happened were still sketchy, he said.
An inspector from the Department of Labour's health and safety department would work through the details and report back to the company.
Both men were showing "encouraging signs" of recovering last night, he said.
