Chicago Pneumatic has issued some useful advice on changing tyres on heavy vehicles.

The tool and equipment expert says changing tyres on heavy vehicles, such as trucks or buses, can be physically very demanding for operators. Poor working conditions such as weight of the tool, noise level, vibration transmission or overall ergonomics, can also impact on overall job quality and operators safety.

Chicago Pneumatic experts recommend setting up the best working conditions for the operators to help prevent  MSDs (Musculoskeletal Disorders), linked to bad posture and inadequate equipment. For example wheel dollies are recommended for use in these situations. Without a wheel dolly, operators carry and bowl the wheels manually. Designed to bring a sturdy and handy assembly aid for heavy vehicles, the use of wheel dollies allows easy removal and installation of tyre/wheel assemblies, and avoids a lot of injuries for the operators.

A further recommendation from the CP team is ergonomic seats. Many tyre workshops remain unaware of these solutions. However, they bring significant improvement in terms of operator comfort and prevent operators from having bad postures such as knees on the floor. Some specific seats can even improve job quality, thanks to integrated FRLs or tool balancers.

Christophe Roland, Very High Load Specialist at Chicago Pneumatic says, “When choosing an ergonomic seat, check the ease of handling, the robustness, the quality and stability of the seat. More advanced solutions, like our CP87029 Ergoseat, are also designed with integrated FRLs, ensuring the right air pressure close to the tool and a tool balancer for more comfort to the operator.”

Chicago Pneumatic also says the use of nutrunners, or pneumatic torque wrenches is a very significant help top operators. These are specifically designed with very low (close to zero) vibration transmission and a lower noise level.