Worker At South Brunswick Sunny Delight Plant Trapped In Machine

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — An Edison woman was seriously injured this past Friday, June 29 when her arm became trapped in a machine at the Sunny Delight plant in the Dayton section of South Brunswick.

However, local volunteer firefighters were able to free her, and the woman is now recovering at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

The near-deadly workplace accident happened at 7:30 a.m. Friday, when South Brunswick police received a 911 call of a worker trapped in a machine at Sunny Delight Beverage Company on Corn Road. The Monmouth Junction Fire Department, South Brunswick EMS and police were dispatched to the warehouse, where emergency crews found the 50-year-old Edison woman with her arm trapped in the machine.

The woman had been cleaning the machine when she reached in to pick a bottle out and the machine suddenly activated, crushing her arm and trapping her.

Monmouth Junction firefighters had to isolate the power to the machine and stabilize it prior to attempting to free the woman. Firefighters then used high-pressure air bags and wooden wedges to separate the machinery from the woman’s arm. It took firefighters 25 minutes to extricate her.

The woman suffered serious arm injuries and was admitted to the hospital.

The incident is under investigation by the Unite States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, South Brunswick police said.

"The rescue was a result of a total team effort. It took time to stabilize the machine and then inflate the air bags to the point we could free her arm," said Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith.

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