A Sunrise Enterprises recycling centre employee was arrested for allegedly assaulting two co-workers with a wooden board after his boss told him not to lean on a forklift.

The News Review reported Michael Wayne Crandal, 23, of Winston, told police he was leaning on the forklift at the Mulholland Drive centre when his boss told him not to.

Crandal told Roseburg Police Department officers he tried to punch his boss in the chest but missed him.

Crandal said when another worker tried to step between them, he grabbed a broken wooden pallet and struck the side of his boss's head.

After an ensuing struggle, Crandal's boss sustained a broken thumb while the other worker received a scrape on her hand.

A police officer described Crandal as "slightly developmentally disabled" in his report.