Man killed by potato harvester in Pukekohe had been sent from India to study

An Indian man was killed in a workplace accident with a potato harvester on a farm in Puni, near Pukekohe, on Saturday. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The farm worker who died on Saturday after becoming trapped in a potato harvester in Pukekohe was an Indian man whose family had spent a fortune sending him to New Zealand to study.

The accident happened at a potato farm on Settlement Rd, near Puni, shortly before 1pm.

It is understood some farm workers were on a break, and the tractor was turned off, but the machine was still working when the accident happened, the Indian Weekender reported.

The farm worker had reportedly reached to take out something out of the machine when he was pulled in.

Police have not yet named the man. His friends have informed his family of his death but not all next of kin have been contacted.

The man was the youngest of three siblings and came from a poor family in the Punjabi village of Talwandi Salbo, the Indian Weekender reported.

His family had invested a fortune to send him to settle in New Zealand and his death had destroyed "a million dreams", according to a member of the community who spoke to the Indian Weekender on condition of anonymity.

Bhav Dhillon, honorary consul for India, confirmed the man had come here recently as a student from Punjab. None of his immediate family was in New Zealand.

"It is not sure whether they will travel to New Zealand or not as they are not financially well off," Dhillon said.

"The Consulate office is providing all necessary support."

The incident has been referred to WorkSafe.

Earlier this month WorkSafe sentenced another company over the death of a worker in April 2016 after he became trapped in a potato harvester on a farm in Horowhenua.

WorkSafe's investigation found the machine had no guarding over a nip point between exposed rollers.

There was also no lone worker policy in place and the company, Easton Agriculture, had no standard operating procedure for how to operate the harvester safely.