OSHA: Tire explosion which severely injured employee at Woburn truck sales and repair facility ‘preventable’

Employer name: Crown Equipment Corp.
2 Presidential Way
Woburn, Massachusetts

What prompted OSHA’s inspection: An employee sustained serious head injuries on July 13, 2016, when the rim of a split rim tire struck him when the tire exploded as he attempted to service the tire.

Investigation findings: An investigation by the Andover Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Crown Equipment – a powered industrial truck sales and repair facility – failed to provide adequate training and safeguards to protect employees while they serviced rim wheels. Specifically, the company did not:

• Develop and implement a training program for employees who service rim wheels to inform them of the hazards associated with the wheels, and safety procedures necessary for this task.
• Evaluate each employee’s ability to service rim wheels safely.
• Ensure that each employee demonstrated the ability to service rim wheels safely.
• Require employees to use or provide an airline assembly with a clip-on chuck and a sufficient length of hose that would allow employees to stand outside the rim’s trajectory should it explode.
• Have manuals with instructions for servicing wheel rims available in the service area.

As a result of these conditions, OSHA cited Crown Equipment Corp. for five serious violations of workplace safety standards.

Proposed penalties: $62,355

QUOTE: “This worker’s injury was preventable. Servicing rims such as these is dangerous. The employer must train workers properly and equip them to do this kind of work safely before they do the job. I urge all employers performing this type of work to review their operations and take the required corrective action, so this does not happen again,” said Anthony Covello, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties.

Link to citations: Here.