Tire Work Takes Training, Correct Tools to Protect Technicians, Executives Say

This story appears in the Jan. 5 print edition of Transport Topics.

Commercial tire work is a tough and potentially hazardous job, but the combination of effective training, protective equipment, proper tools and adherence to federal safety regulations, make most — if not all — tire-related injuries preventable, industry executives said.

“If there’s a trend, it’s that they’re all preventable,” said Kevin Rohlwing, senior vice president of training for the Tire Industry Association. “Poorly trained workers are asked to perform work, and because of poor training, they’re still dying. Insufficient training is killing people.”

A review of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s fatality reports for fiscal year 2014 identified 14 incidents where workers died while performing work on tires. In 10 of those incidents, the workers were killed while inflating a tire.

Rowling noted that not one of the OSHA fatality reports mentioned using a tire cage, which surrounds a tire that is being serviced and can protect workers.

Fatalities are the most serious consequence of accidents, but less traumatic injuries still abound. OSHA does not provide detailed reports on injuries, but a scan of injury data in the automotive-repair sector over the past few years from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a stubborn similarity in the number of injuries and lost workdays.

Obvious hazard areas include lifting, rotary tools, trips and falls, and accidents brought on from failure to wear personal protection equipment, Rohlwing said. Shop-specific hazards include mezzanines, alignment pits, scrap storage and tire and storage racks.

Resources to help prevent injuries and fatalities are available, but shops must commit to understanding and following proper safety procedures, said Rick Holland, environmental health and safety officer with Rush Enterprises, which is headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, and owns the Rush Truck Centers chain of dealerships and Austin, Texas-based World Wide Tires — which sells, repairs and maintains tires for Rush and its customers.

“I focus on keeping our guys working safely. Part of our success is to make sure . . . everybody is following procedures,” Holland said.

Daily safety reminders are an important part of safety policies for both companies, Holland said. “A lot of injuries result from complacency. People take shortcuts and begin thinking that it won’t happen to me, only finding out later that Murphy’s Law comes into play and there’s a blowup.”

“My guys get daily training in safety,” said Bret Epperson, branch manager for World Wide Tires in Buda, Texas. “For example, when fixing a flat and taking it apart, if it’s a new guy, someone with a year or less of training, either myself, a service manager or an experienced guy will look at it and either pass it or not. Most of the bad news you have with tires blowing up is preventable by taking the time to inspect tire before [inflating] it.”

Most fleets may repair, mount and dismount tires in-house, but Southeastern Freight Lines, in Lexington, South Carolina, decided years ago that the work was too dangerous. Instead, the carrier outsources mounting and dismounting to Snider’s Fleet Solutions, a multistate distributor and service center headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Mounting tires is very dangerous work, so we addressed that with our mounted wheel program,” said Steve Burdian, manager of Southeastern’s tires and fleet services. “Our technicians are trained to inspect tires and look at what needs to be replaced. If it’s damaged, we’ll pull that tire and send it to the vendor. We don’t do any repairs in-house.”

Snider’s facility in Pelzer, South Carolina, handles most of the tire repairs and retreading for Southeastern, said branch manager Mike Stevens. “It’s vitally important to me that whoever is checking the tires have the right equipment and know-how to mount them correctly,” he said.

Snider will X-ray every tire before it’s sent to retreading and will scrap 15% to 17% of the casings, Stevens said.

Most injuries from exploding tires in shops come from failures after the tire was run “flat,” or at 80% or less of its recommended pressure, Burdian said. Any tire that has been run flat can damage the sidewall belts and result in failure.

“If technicians are not trained to find damage like that, the tire and wheel can come undone,” he said.

There is no shortage of available information and proper procedural training for safe tire work. TIA offers three multimodular commercial-tire technician-training programs, with basic, certified and train-the-trainer courses, as well as course modules for fleets, earthmovers, farms and other target users. Almost 40,000 people have taken the commercial-tire certification course alone, according to the association’s website.

Federal law requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. There are OSHA regulations covering almost every aspect of personal and shop safety, including how to service single and multipiece rims (Standard No. 29 CFR Part 1910.177) and setting minimum standards for equipping workers with personal-protective equipment (OSHA Regulation 29 CFR 1910.132), among others.

The Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations details the best safety and repair procedures for commercial-tire work in several Recommended Practices, such as RP 209E Tire and Rim Safety Procedures, and RP 206B Tire Repair Procedures.

In the end, however, it’s up to the shops “to teach and hold workers accountable,” said Snider’s Stevens.

While tire manufacturers typically don’t have direct responsibility for a distributor’s operation or procedures, they can influence safety in varying degrees.

Michelin North America’s commercial dealers submit quarterly self-audits, which include safety evaluations, said Robert Reddy, program manager for Michelin Commercial Service Network. “Safety is ultimately the responsibility of the franchisee,” he said, but he noted that Michelin has invested in training for the franchisees by sponsoring the TIA “train the trainer” course to ensure each franchisee has TIA-certified instructors on staff.

The company offers TIA-based training at its Greenville, South Carolina, facility as well as online. Training includes proper mounting and dismounting procedures, basic fitment, damaged-tire training, safety training, performance tracking, air-pressure maintenance and road maintenance.

Goodyear TIA training for techs in its Commercial Tire & Service Centers covers tire-inflation procedures, the use of tire-inflation cages, dismounting and mounting of tire and wheel assemblies, and proper torque applications, said Gary Bateman, Goodyear’s safety director. The company participates in TIA’s Certified Technician programs, and “employs other programs and procedures designed to promote the well-being of its technicians,” Bateman said.

Goodyear’s “training program follows a training matrix for all positions, starting on day one of employment and continuing forward,” he said. “Video, mentor observation and hands-on training are all part of this training program. All training is tracked and documented.”

At GCR Tires & Service, Bridgestone’s tire distribution subsidiary, workers have detailed lists of safety activities they are responsible for completing to mitigate the risk of injury, said Mark Clark, chief operating officer. The company also requires that employees complete daily, weekly and monthly equipment checks, such as service vehicles and forklifts as well as safety equipment like eye-wash stations.

“At each store location, teammates lead monthly safety meetings, and quarterly reviews take place between store managers and upper management on the status of all safety items assigned to the store,” Clark said.

Even tool suppliers, such as Myers Tire Supply in Akron, Ohio, provide safety-related training. “We offer many training modules to support solutions to many fleet issues including torquing, RIST [Remove, Inspect, Snug and Torque] procedures, equipment maintenance, inflation, lifting and holding of vehicles and tire service. We have many TIA-certified instructors that also can certify level 200 and 300 TIA [commercial tire service],” said Steve Michaels, western region manager for MTS.

Manhandling tires is still heavy work, and while tools may not be getting any lighter, they’re getting smarter. And this is helping to make the tech’s jobs easier and safer.

“Equipment is much better today. It is a 150% improvement over 10 years ago,” said Snider’s Stevens.

Digital readouts for air gauges and torque wrenches are giving workers more exact readings. The Ultra Precision Air Gauge line from Myers also includes a gauge that can do calculations for topping off “hot” tires, master-gauge certification and one that can be set for the fleet’s high and low inflation range, said Michaels.

“There are several digital tools on the market today that allow you to capture data directly, including tread depth, inflation pressures and torque values,” Michaels said.

“This can be as simple as sending the data to a smart phone or as complex as maintaining an entire fleet’s database,” he said.