Magistrate Peter Mellas at Warrnambool Magistrates Court heard the incident at the abattoir on June 22 resulted in a worker being struck to the head. 

A WorkCover Authority solicitor said an operating system which stacked boxes of meat broke down and required a motor to be removed.

During that process the machinery fell down, an employee was struck to the head and had to be hospitalised for a considerable period of time.

The solicitor said the worker suffered an extremely serious injury and was lucky to survive.

He alleged there had been no instruction or training into replacing the motor.

The injured worker provided a statement to the court, but the court heard the man has a limited memory of the incident because of his injuries. 

The magistrate heard the abattoir had made a number of changes to its operations and had co-operated in the WorkCover investigation. 

The magistrate adjourned the case until June 14 .

He said he expected the company would then have a strong idea of what course it would take.