A Te Puke man hospitalised after having to pull out a meat hook impaled through his face is today recovering at home.

The 42-year-old Affco meatworks cleaner was impaled on a device on the lamb chain called a spreader about 7pm on Tuesday.

The man impaled with a meat hook was discharged from Tauranga Hospital today.

The man, part of a cleaning crew working at the company's processing plant at Rangiuru, was impaled on the meat hook for 90 minutes.

Tauranga Hospital communications advisor James Fuller says the man has been discharged today after spending two nights in hospital.

An Affco spokesperson says the company is making no comment on the incident as WorkSafe New Zealand and Affco are investigating.

She also says the man is asking for privacy after the 90 minute ordeal.

Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade station officer Ivon Pilcher, at the time of the incident, said the man had the hook impaled through the side of his face.

Volunteer firefighters from Te Puke and Maketu worked for an hour and a half to help remove the meat hook from the man's face.

'In the end we actually unbolted the hook arrangement on the chain and managed to get him off with the hook still inside his face. The ambulance had numbed him enough that he actually pulled it out himself.”

The man was conscious for the procedure and able to move away to free himself afterwards. Read more about the incident here.

A WorkSafe New Zealand spokesperson confirms the organisation was notified of the incident and is investigating.

'No further comment will be made at this stage.”