Rim Repair Servicing Failures at Crown Equipment Leads to Citation

Rim repair servicing failures were cited by OSHA against Crown Equipment.Rim repair servicing failures at Ohio-based lift truck manufacturer, Crown Equipment, resulted in a citation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, for five serious violations. The investigation, which was conducted on July 13, 2016, was prompted by an employee injury, which occurred at a Woburn, Massachusetts repair facility. The employee sustained serious head injuries while performing rim repair servicing  of a truck tire. The tire exploded and, as a result of inadequate training and repair safeguards, the split tire rim struck the employee in the head. The OSHA-proposed penalty for this citation is, $62,355.

The OSHA investigation yielded the following violations with regard to Crown’s rim repair servicing failures:

  • Failure to develop and implement a training program for rim repair servicing
  • Failure to evaluate each employee’s ability to safely conduct tire repair servicing
  • Failure to ensure that each employee demonstrated the ability to service rim wheels safely
  • Failure to require employees to incorporate air-line assembly for repair and to implement a clip-on chuck and hose extension that would maintain a safe employee distance from the tire
  • Failure to provide servicing information manuals for employees in the servicing and repair workspace

OSHA Middlesex/Essex county area director, Anthony Covello, said, “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.”

Many workplace injuries are avoidable and occur as a result of simple oversight. In the general industry workplace, particularly those which incorporate heavy machinery in a repair or servicing capacity, a proper safety protocol can mean the difference between a machine malfunction or amputation, serious injury, or even death. For industry safety leaders in their respective professions, one valuable resource is an OSHA-approved safety compliance training course. Whether on-site or online, these courses can prove to be the difference between a smooth-running operation and citation or, worse, injury to work-staff.