In addition to the routine servicing of heavy truck tires, most manufacturers offer upfitting packages for trucks and SUVs that include large sport tires. These tires represent substantial material handling hazards for service technicians. This exposure has led to some serious lifting injuries. From a claims standpoint, it’s not a frequency issue, averaging 15-20 per year, so much as a severity concern. Injuries involving tires are more than double the average cost per claim.
That severity means that technicians are being put out of work by these injuries and potentially experiencing life-altering debilitation. With our industry facing critical workforce shortages, we cannot afford to lose technicians to injury. Therefore, it’s essential that shops take action to prevent material handling injuries involving large tires.
Every shop should have policies and procedures for upfitting vehicles with large tires and changing truck tires in general. These procedures must be aimed at minimizing the amount of physical exertion required. The best prevention measures are material handling aids like tire lifts and tire wheel arm extensions.
Tire lifts work great, but often don’t fit between bays. Therefore, the shop should have a policy of performing these jobs on lifts that have enough space, i.e. truck bays. Shops should avoid assigning the majority of these jobs to the most “brawn” technician, as even the strongest technicians can wear out and get injured doing too much heavy lifting.
One clever hack we see in some shops is setting the tire in a 15 gallon barrel to keep it at a safe lifting height versus placing it on the floor. This works well in tight spaces. If you have unique procedures you use to minimize lifting hazards, please contact us and share your ideas.
Another best practice we strongly encourage is to train employees on proper ergonomics. NHADA offers an industry-specific ergonomic awareness training that all technicians should complete.
Service technicians are critically important to the success of our industry. Therefore, action must be taken to ensure their health and safety at work. Policies and procedures on handling heavy tires are essential in preventing debilitating injuries. For information on ergonomic awareness training, please contact Brian Duplessis at bduplessis@nhada.com.
