Some quick thinking by employees helped minimize injury to a worker Thursday at Palm Plastics.

An outside contractor installing new equipment in the factory’s stacking area failed to lock out the operation of the machinery. He was subsequently pinned in the machinery by a robotic arm with a pallet on it.

Some Palm Plastics employees quickly decided to use a forklift to break the pressure while awaiting response from the Morenci Area EMS.

“A lot of people responded who made some good decisions,” said company owner Jeffrey Owen. “It was a quick reaction by everybody. They did a good job.”

Owen said the incident looked a lot worse than it actually was. Although the man was transported by LifeFlight due to a concern about internal injuries, he was soon released from the hospital.

The contractor was verifying the operation of new stacking equipment when the incident occurred, Owen said, and it was not a production accident.