David - Thanks for raising this topic on the forum as most of us probably didn't know about it. There seem to have been few media reports about the Tilbury incident and they provide what seems to be similar information about it. However, unlike others, the article at http://www.link2portal.c...winding-gear-100ft-crane does include a photo of the sort of crane involved and gives readers some idea of its immense size, etc. It's apparently very rare for surgeons to be called to deal with casualties on site but understandable in cases where people are trapped in machinery as at Tilbury. In the 1980s as an HSE inspector I was present at a location when this occurred, and then proceeded to investigate the circumstances after the casualty had been released from the machinery involved. As it's highly likely that the circumstances at Tilbury are being thoroughly investigated by HSE, the port operator and the man's employer, perhaps more information may become available after the investigations are completed. In the meantime it's inappropriate to speculate on the circumstances, though there's no harm in hoping that the injured engineer is making a good recovery. p.s. Some forum readers might think I have a penchant for injecting humour into my postings on this forum. There is some truth in this, partly as my attempts to prevent forum threads from being too staid and boring. However, for some topics such as serious accidents and occupational disease I either just can't think of any humour or do not think its inclusion in postings is appropriate.