The 25-year-old Malaysian woman had only been working at the business for about three weeks when the incident occurred.

The woman and her husband had been brought in to help harvest hops at Ellerslie Hop on Upper Fifteen Mile Creek Road.

Her husband had been working in a paddock when the incident occurred.

The arm was placed on ice and the woman was flown to hospital in Melbourne.

It’s not known if the woman’s arm could be reattached, but the limb was severely damaged by the hop processing machine. 

A staff member, who asked not to be named, said the husband had become emotional as his wife was flown from the scene.

“He did pretty well considering the situation,” the employee said.

“He was calm at the time but was more upset when she left.

“He was going to go straight down to Melbourne as soon as he could.”

It’s believed the woman grabbed something attached to the shaft of the hop processing auger while cleaning.

The shaft pulled the woman’s arm into the belt and chain-driven machine and detached it.

WorkSafe staff attended the business on Wednesday and stayed late into the night before returning about 11.15am on Thursday.

Two investigators took photographs of the scene and spoke to staff about the accident.

“It was pretty hectic (on Wednesday),” an Ellerslie Hop employee said.

“I just hope they can save her arm.

“It’s the first major thing that’s happened here.

“You get a cut on your finger and it’s not a problem.

“This sort of thing is not what you want.”

The Ellerslie Hop head office is in Mitcham and the Myrrhee processing plant has about a dozen staff.

Many are foreigners in Australia on temporary visas.

The hops are used to brew beer. 

The managing director of the business was travelling to Myrrhee on Thursday following the accident. 

A WorkSafe spokeswoman confirmed the authority is investigating.

“WorkSafe is aware of the incident and is investigating,” she said.

The victim was in a stable condition on Thursday.