Tire service training
Embracing efective methods for educating employees Tire service industry must say goodbye to ‘old Joe training’ By Kevin Rohlwing
L
the majority of truck tires that are serviced are outsourced to commercial tire dealers. Since I saw the light back in 1996, I’m proud to say that training in the commercial tire service industry has improved considerably. But my experience as an industry training developer and provider tells me that the transportation sector as a whole continues to embrace the old Joe method and I believe it’s costing people their lives. While I don’t have the specifc details regarding the recent accidents in trucking, here is what OSHA said about each fatality:
ooking back on my 30 years in the tire business as a trainee and trainer, there are an infnite number of things that I would have done diferently. As a young technician working for my dad, I took far too many chances and exercised far too litle caution when handling infated tires. I got lucky more than once. And when I became his unofcial trainer, I did litle more than stop a few techs from hurting themselves. Barely. From a training perspective, the frst 14 years of my career were an accurate refection of the state of the truck tire service industry up to the early 1990s. For most commercial tire dealers back then, technician • Worker rotating truck tires was killed when one of the rings training was conducted on the job, a training method known holding the tire in place struck him in the head. as “on-the-job training,” or OJT. I’ve also heard it referred to • Worker struck by pieces of a large tire that exploded while as “old Joe training” because it usually involved an older and adding air to it. more experienced tech taking the new guy under his wing for • Worker was struck and killed by parts of rim that exploded a few weeks to watch and learn how to do it. Once old Joe said while tire was being changed. you were OK, you were trained and it was time to go to work. • Worker was killed when the tractor tire he was infating If you do an Internet search of on-the-job training today, exploded. you’ll fnd that it has become a proven method for educating • One worker was killed, another injured afer the tire they employees. Wiki answers defnes it as follows; “Te best job were removing blew of the axle. training is ‘on-the-job training’ or OJT. OJT is best because this allows you to experience actually doing the job to see if you Te problem with OJT as the only source of training for like it.” Well pass the guitar and the fresh organic wheat grass. truck tire and wheel service back in the day was that it created While most of the world can enjoy that break-in period where a system where generations of bad habits got passed down you get to “see if you like it,” the from one Joe to the next. lives of truck tire technicians It worked like this. Te frst are more or less on the line old Joe showed the new guy all In the last two years, fve out of 10 of his bad habits. Ten the new the frst time they handle or service an infated tire. fatalities caused by an infated tire guy became the next old Joe Improperly serviced or inand passed down the original occurred at trucking companies fated assemblies have resulted old Joe’s bad habits in addition while the other half can be in far too many serious injuries to a few more tricks he learned and deaths over the years for himself over the years. And contributed to a tire dealer. someone to “see if they like it.” if one of those new guys had If a new hire doesn’t underprior experience, he tacked on stand the hazards going in, they another generation or two of may never get a chance to decide if it is the career for them. bad habits that he learned from someone else. Each old Joe perpetuated generations of bad habits and started an endless Old Joe vs. OSHA patern that was inconsistent and dangerous. A recent look at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fatalities proves my point. In the last How people learn two years, fve out of 10 fatalities caused by an infated tire As it stands today, most technicians in the commercial tire occurred at trucking companies while the other half can be service industry have been formally trained to defate multicontributed to a tire dealer. piece tire and rim assemblies before removing them from a Statistically, that number should be a lot lower because vehicle because damaged or mismatched components can
52
MTD October 2012
