Fellas,
In regards to tire safety, don't take it lightly!
About 20 years ago, I worked as a truck fleet mechanic for a large
nationwide company. We worked on both the tractors and trailers around the
clock. We usually had a minimum of three mechanics per shift, and I
typically worked 3rd. Night shifts had to do our own tire work, but day
shift had a dedicated tire man. Work bays were side by side.
I was ending up my shift one morning and a driver pulled his rig up to the
bay door and got my attention. We were standing by the side of the truck
discussing some needed service work. About thirty feet away, behind me, the
tire man had a tractor jacked up preparing to change some drive axle tires.
I heard the tire hammer hit the rim, and the next thing I knew, I was high
kicking the drivers hat off his head and landing on my back! An
unrestrained wheel wedge had caught me in the heel of my right boot, and
literally took my foot out from under me!
The driver had no idea of what had happened, and jumped back making a rather
extended, rather descriptive comment something along the lines of 'If I
didn't want to work on it, all I had to do was say so!' And he went off,
holding his nose, looking for my foreman. When he and the foreman got back,
I was still sitting on the ground examining the heel of my foot, which was
already blue by now. The tire man had my shredded boot in his hand, shaking
like a leaf, and still apologizing. All he saw was me hit the ground, and
thought that I had been seriously injured.
I was about to be fired for abuse of another employee by the foreman, but
the tire man explained what happened. The driver thought that I had just
flat footed kicked the hat off his head, scraping his nose in the process.
I got a hell of a bruise on my heel, a knot on my head, and skinned elbows
from hitting the pavement. My boot was torn apart at the welting of the
sole to the uppers and the heel torn completely off. The driver got a
skinned nose. We were all extremely lucky.
The tire man had to buy me a new pair of boots, and watch some safety films,
but wasn't officially reprimanded.
We all learned a better respect for tire wedges though.
Be careful, they can definitely get you hurt.
John
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Sep 02 2001 - 11:15:37 PDT