Safety Issue

Rich Kontny_3

A friend of mine in high school worked at his dad's gas station. He was filling a truck tire that had split rims. The rims blew apart and permanently injured him.

This was before the days of tire cages etc. Denny has never been the same and his dad felt terrible!

Rich K

Larry (from OSHA)

This was a new one for me

Have you ever had a car or truck tire on the ground and put air into it? I know I have. And I know I will NEVER do this again. When filling a flat, perhaps not seated tire, (we don't really know) an incredible thing happened. Apparently, the bead broke and the sidewall split from the bead to the tread. Since the tire was laying on the ground instead of on the vehicle or on a tire mounting machine or in a cage, it launched about 20 feet into the air and broke a 2x4 rafter. That was after striking the fellow that was bending over the tire while filling it. I can only imagine that he never knew what hit him. Compressed air has amazing power.

I've said that I'm not surprised by anything anymore, but this was a new one for me.

Let's be careful out there.

Larry

Jim Bennett

Hopefully....

the guy survived. This exact thing happened to a friend of mine's dad a few years back.

Changed a truck tire with irons {spoons} and had it on the ground filling it with air waiting for the bead to pop into place.

The tire exploded upwards into him, breaking his arm, shoulder and jaw.

He recovered but he (and I) have a new respect for tires and compressed air. I cringe everytime I fill my portable air tank.

Jim

Larry (from OSHA)

It is an amazing thing

this compressed air. No, unfortunately he did not.

Larry C_4

Defective tire?

"Apparently, the bead broke and the sidewall split from the bead to the tread."

To me, that sounds like a defective tire. Or a damaged rim.

Split rims are known to be hazardous. Manually mounting a tire by spoons, sounds hazardous. I would assume that most people don't use either devices anymore because of the hazards.

Yes, people need to respect any compressed gas system or pressurized container. However, I doubt that this is a common hazard we need to worry about. I would be more concerned about the driver of the vehicle the tire is going on.

I am not downplaying any of the accidents that happened. No one should ever get hurt like that. I am just not sure that worrying about the flat tire exploding in my face ranks up there with the other hazards we face every day.

Larry C

Larry (from OSHA)

perspective duly noted

and I do tend to agree with you. Apparently, manufacturing processes can create the situation/defect that may have been present here. As far as being a common hazard, it was a first for me, but a quick search found that it is recognized and there are lawyers that make a practice out of it. I don't advocate hiding under a rock or running from everything that could be dangerous, but merely bring to the Wall this unusual incident. I try not to be a Nervous Nellie, but there are so many ways to get hurt on the job that I only suggest that people think about some of the what ifs and relate it to what they do each day.

If just a little forethought prevents someone from getting hurt, I am a little closer to being put out of a job. And that's ok with me.

Larry