Power station worker plunges 10 storeys

A Victorian power station worker who was lucky to survive a 50-metre fall while cleaning the walls of a boiler is blaming himself for the accident.

Ronald Mackie, 47, suffered a broken cheek, cuts to his knees and severe rope burn when he fell 10 storeys into an ash hopper at the plant at Yallourn in Victoria's Gippsland region, about 6.30am (AEDT) on Thursday.

An undeterred Mr Mackie told reporters from his intensive care bed at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital he planned to return to work and had vowed not to make the same mistake twice.

The father-of-two said he released a lever in the harness of a rope attached to him to drop down a level, but ended up freefalling 10 storeys to the bottom, hitting walls along the way.

"The rope was fine, it was probably my error, human error I suppose," he said.

"I hit the bottom, that was when I blacked out. Yeah it was a fair drop, I was probably pretty lucky."

Mr Mackie was also lucky the ash at the bottom was not hot because the boiler had not been operating for three days.

His wife and two sons, aged 17 and 20, rushed from the family home at Newborough, near Moe, to be by his side.

Mr Mackie thanked his well-trained colleagues for coming to his aid.

"At the moment I don't realise I nearly died," he said.

"As far as I am concerned, we had all the rescue gear and a great plan set up, I didn't think a lot of it."

Mr Mackie will spend two days in hospital and intends to return to the job when he has recovered from his injuries.

"It is just part of the job, they say you learn by your mistakes, I won't do it again," he said.

Paramedics treated Mr Mackie at the scene for rope burns and head and chest injuries including a punctured lung before he was flown to The Alfred.

WorkSafe Victoria said he was lucky to be alive.

"He falls very much into the 'buy a lottery ticket' category - this guy is incredibly lucky to be alive and I'd say he has a story to tell," WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said.

"Not many people have a fall of this type and get to walk away or live to tell the tale, especially not from 10 storeys."

TRUenergy, which operates the Yallourn Power Station, has launched its own internal inquiry alongside WorkSafe's investigation.

TRUenergy spokesman Carl Kitchen said Mr Mackie and other workers in the area had been working in harnesses.