The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has depleted its supply of two truck-tire related charts-those on Rim Matching and Mounting/Demounting truck tires and wheels.
But that might not be a bad thing, according to Kevin Rohlwing, senior vice president of technical and education services for the Tire Industry Association (TIA).
Speaking recently at the World Tire Expo seminar, ``Updates on tire inspection, safety procedures and regulations,'' Mr. Rohlwing said OSHA is looking at updating both charts and possibly creating a second rim-matching chart of discontinued components.
In addition, the agency will consider simplifying the charts to make them easier to use, he said.
But none of this would have come about had TIA not learned that OSHA was out of stock for these charts and had no plans for reprinting them due to a lack of funding.
That's when TIA sprung into action spurring a letter-writing campaign by its Commercial Tire Service training instructors to get OSHA to revisit the subject.
The effort worked, and Mr. Rohlwing met with OSHA officials late last summer, informing them that the existing charts were out of date but also had some irrelevant information in them.
As a result, OHSA has indicated that rather than simply reprinting the existing charts, it should probably consider updating them first so that they are more relevant and current, Mr. Rohlwing said.
He also suggested OSHA consider creating two Rim Matching charts-one covering wheel components still on the market and another for discontinued components.
The charts are particularly important for dealers, he said, because ``the largest percentage of multi-piece accidents involving multi-piece separations are the result of mismatched components.''
As a result of his discussions with OSHA, Mr. Rohlwing said the agency likely will begin the process this year of looking at updating and revising the charts.
``OSHA has not formally committed to anything yet,'' Mr. Rohlwing stressed, ``but it wants to start the process this year to update the charts.''
The agency also has requested TIA's input in putting together a group of experts to help with updating information for the charts. Such a group would include representatives from wheel and rim manufacturers and suppliers, tool and equipment makers and suppliers and tire manufacturers.
While OSHA is out of the posters, TIA is offering PDF versions of them for free on its Web site: www.tireindustry.org. Dealers can click on CTS in the Training Links box located on the left hand side of the home page, which will take them directly to where the charts can be downloaded.