Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A 20-year-old mechanic was killed at a shop in Fort Myers after a swollen tire exploded under pressure Monday, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. while the man and at least one other worker were filling tires with air. As the man relieved air pressure from the tire, police said, it blew off the rim and struck him in the head. The other worker was also hit in the leg. Coworkers used towels to help stop the bleeding but emergency responders pronounced the 20-year-old dead at the scene at around 1 p.m.
A Centers for Disease Control State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Face) Report, a program that examines fatal occupational injuries, conducted following a similar situation with a 20-year-old apprentice mechanic in California recommended that employees never perform maintenance on an inflated tire. Additional recommendations from the report included the supervision of new employees and testing employees following training to ensure that they are ready to take on the job with less supervision.
