10 Common Tire Shop Safety Incidents
and How to Prevent Them
Tire shops have real hazards. Knowing what they are is the first step to keeping your crew safe. Here's what to watch for and what to do about it.
Tire shop work isn't a desk job. You're lifting heavy assemblies, running powerful equipment, and working around vehicles every day. Accidents happen, but most of them are preventable when you know what to look for. Use this list as a starting point for your next safety walkthrough.
The 10 Most Common Incidents
01 Strains and Sprains
Tires and wheel assemblies are heavy, and most of the lifting happens with your upper body. Day after day, that adds up. Strains and sprains are the most common injury in tire shops and the easiest to ignore until something tears. Use proper lifting technique and rotate physically demanding tasks when you can.
02 Vehicles Falling from Lifts or Jacks
A vehicle coming off a lift doesn't give you a warning. Equipment failure, an improperly positioned jack, or a vehicle not fully secured. Any of these can put several thousand pounds on top of someone in seconds. Always verify lift points before raising, and never work under a vehicle supported only by a floor jack.
03 Tire Ruptures and Explosions
An overinflated tire doesn't just blow -- it explodes. The energy released can be enough to send debris across a shop. Always use a tire cage when inflating, and never exceed the rated pressure for the tire or wheel.
An 11" x 22" truck tire at 100 psi holds enough energy to hurl a bowling ball ¾ of a mile. - Tire Industry Association
04 Slips, Trips, and Falls
Oil on the floor. A water puddle from a car that came in during a snowstorm. An air hose run across a walkway. Any one of these can put someone on the ground, especially when they're carrying something and can't see their feet. A clean shop is a safer shop, and this one comes down to habits and accountability.
05 Cuts and Lacerations
Sharp tools, metal edges, and vehicle components are everywhere in a tire shop. Cuts are common and often dismissed as minor, but they're also a leading cause of infections and lost time. Gloves aren't optional when handling wheel hardware or sharp components.
06 Eye Injuries
Sparks from a grinder, chemical spray, or a chunk of debris kicked up by a tire. All of it can reach your eyes faster than you can react. Safety glasses should be on before the work starts, not after something almost happens. If your shop has employees skipping eye protection, that's an enforcement issue, not a supply issue.
07 Hazardous Chemical Exposure
Brake cleaner, battery acid, tire mounting lubricant, penetrating oils, and more. Tire shops run on chemicals, and many of them are hard on skin and lungs with repeated exposure. Check your SDS binders. Make sure chemicals are stored correctly, labeled clearly, and that employees know what PPE is required for each one. Ventilation matters too, especially in winter when doors stay closed.
08 Lockout/Tagout Failures
LOTO procedures exist to prevent one simple scenario: someone getting hurt by equipment another person left energized. It works when followed. Most failures come down to shortcuts taken under pressure in a busy shop. The procedure doesn't change based on how experienced someone is. If LOTO isn't being followed consistently, it's a leadership problem, not just an employee problem.
09 Machine Guarding Violations
Guards on tire changers and grinders aren't there to slow anyone down, they're there to keep hands attached to people. Guards get removed, bypassed, or "temporarily" left off more often than they should. Experienced employees are sometimes the worst offenders because they're confident it won't happen to them. It can happen to anyone.
10 Forklift Incidents
Forklifts tip over, clip pedestrians, drop loads, and in enclosed spaces, produce exhaust that builds up faster than people realize. These aren't freak accidents. They happen at a predictable rate in shops and warehouses every year.
84 forklift-related workplace deaths and 15,460 non-fatal injuries in 2023-2024. - National Safety Council
3 Ways to Cut Down on Incidents
01 Keep the Shop Clean
Puddles, cords across walkways, and general clutter cause falls, especially when someone's carrying something bulky and can't see the floor. Build cleanup into the end of every shift and make it non-negotiable. A messy shop isn't a busy shop. It's a liability.
02 Enforce Safety Policies
Policies posted on the wall don't protect anyone. A veteran employee who skips the LOTO procedure or tosses their glasses aside because they "know what they're doing" is putting your whole crew at risk. Being good at the job doesn't mean the rules don't apply. Make sure you have procedures in place, review them with your team, and enforce them. Leaving a safety liability in place or unchecked is harder to live with after something goes wrong.
03 Stay Stocked on Safety Supplies
"We were out" is not a reason for skipping PPE. Check your safety supply inventory regularly. Safety goggles, gloves, LOTO kits, these items should be used regularly. Set up standing orders so you're not scrambling when something runs low. Rubber-Inc carries the shop safety staples you need, and we can help you set up regular restocking so running out isn't something you have to think about.
The Bottom Line
Most tire shop accidents are predictable and preventable. Know your hazards, enforce your standards, and keep the right supplie on hand. Safety culture doesn't build itself, it gets built with consistency over time.
Sources
• OSHA Controlling Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
• National Safety Council Forklift Injury Facts