Cape Town - An Atlantis <link _top>foundry worker was crushed and killed by a machine at his workplace on Tuesday, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said.
Numsa said it demanded a thorough investigation into the incident, which happened shortly before 16:00.
The union's Western Cape regional secretary Karl Cloete said it appeared that the accident happened when the worker walked into a machine that produced engine <link _top>cores.
Cloete said the man was employed by a labour broker, a system which Numsa had always objected to, because it meant employment conditions differed from those of permanent workers.
He also noted that Atlantis <link _top>Foundries worked a "multi shift system".
"Numsa has always argued that shift work is dangerous work for which employers can never compensate workers and their families."
Atlantis <link _top>Foundries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz South Africa, produces automotive <link _top>castings for both the passenger and commercial vehicle industries, and machines cylinder blocks and crankshafts.
Last year <link _top>Foundries' engineering manager, Theuns Wessels, was quoted as saying <link _top>foundries were recognised as a "dangerous working environment".
"We have an outstanding safety record and we want to keep it that way."
