Father crushed by 1.6 tonne machine just hours after conversation about workplace fatalities

A Brisbane father whose leg was crushed in a sickening workplace accident had been speaking to a workmate just hours earlier about what would happen if he died at work.

In May Dan Peterson and his workmate were waiting at Blackwater's Curragh Coal Mine for a colleague to arrive with tools when they started to discuss the grim scenario.

Hours later, his mate was tying dirty rags around his leg after it was crushed by a 1.6 tonne piece of machinery.

Desperately trying to stem the blood flow, his colleague called emergency services as Dan went into shock.

After being rushed to hospital, Dan underwent multiple surgeries over the next five days as contamination around the leg wound became an issue.

Exactly what went so wrong will form part of an ongoing investigation, but for Dan, his wife and their four children, the financial impact was immediate.

"I never, ever thought it would happen to me," the father-of-four told the Morning Bulletin.

"Our entire savings are gone, everything that (my wife) had planned with her business which was going really well at Moranbah is totally gone now.

"It's really, really, been very hard this last six or more months since this happened."

Now awaiting further corrective surgery, Dan said he is very aware just how lucky he was to survive the ordeal, adding that he is grateful he took out income protection insurance.