A MAN has suffered serious burns after being sprayed with boiling tallow in a factory in Laverton North early this morning.
The 41-year-old received burns to his face, neck and hands when a pipe he was trying to unblock burst at 4am.
Ambulance Victoria said the man was taken to The Alfred hospital in a serious condition.
Intensive care paramedic Andrew Lougheed said the man was trying to unblock a pipe when the ladder he was on slipped and a pressure valve in the pipe was torn off.
He believed the liquid was a mixture of fat and water, heated to 140 degrees. Tallow is often used to make soap and candles.
"His colleagues put the man in the shower to help cool the burns before we arrived," he said.
"The man needed a significant amount of pain relief and we put a special gel-covered dressing on the burns."
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