Tyre cutting equipment is powerful industrial machinery. The hydraulic pressures involved in cutting through steel-reinforced rubber are substantial, the blade assemblies are designed to cut through materials that resist deformation, and the operating environment involves heavy tyre handling and accumulating rubber debris. None of this means the equipment is inherently dangerous to operate, but it does mean the risks must be properly understood and controlled.
This guide covers the hazard profile of tyre cutting operations, the required PPE, machine guarding and interlock requirements, safe systems of work, and the specific risk of pressurised tyres. It applies to all Gradeall tyre cutting equipment and reflects current UK machinery safety legislation. Always refer to the machine-specific operator manual for requirements specific to your equipment model.
Before specifying controls, it helps to understand the actual hazards rather than treating safety as a checklist exercise. The primary hazards in tyre cutting are:
• Crushing and cutting risks from the blade assembly during the active cutting stroke
• Ejected material during cutting, including rubber fragments and steel wire ends from cut bead wire
• Pressurised tyres presenting a burst risk if cut before being deflated
• Manual handling of heavy whole tyres and cut tyre sections
• Noise from the hydraulic power unit and the cutting action
• Hydraulic system hazards if hose or fitting integrity is compromised
• Slip and trip hazards from rubber debris accumulating around the machine
Secondary hazards include dust from dry rubber surfaces, hydraulic oil exposure during maintenance, and the cumulative effects of vibration and noise on operators working extended shifts. Understanding this full picture helps operators apply the right controls with appropriate priority rather than treating all hazards as equally critical.
PPE is the last line of defence in the hierarchy of controls. Machine guarding, safe systems of work, and operator training take precedence. PPE supplements these controls; it does not replace them. An operation that relies on PPE rather than engineering controls to manage crushing and cutting risks has not correctly applied the risk management hierarchy.
Gradeall tyre cutting equipment is designed to comply with EN 16500 and the relevant provisions of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, with guarding integral to the machine design rather than an afterthought. The truck tyre sidewall cutter features a guard door that encloses the blade working area, with a safety interlock that prevents the cutting cycle from initiating if the guard is not in the correct closed position.
The key guarding requirements to verify and maintain in daily use are:
• All interlocks functional and tested at the start of each shift
• No guard removed, defeated, or bypassed for any reason, including to improve access or visibility
• Guard condition inspected as part of pre-use checks, with damaged guards replaced before operation
• Replacement guards held in stock so a worn or damaged guard does not result in continued use without protection
• Emergency stop function tested at the start of each shift and documented
The OTR tyre splitter and the OTR tyre sidewall cutter have guarding configurations appropriate to their larger operating envelope and the mechanical handling equipment involved in loading and positioning OTR tyres. The operator control position is set back from the active cutting zone on all machines.
A written Safe System of Work (SSOW) is required for sidewall cutting operations under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The SSOW should cover:
• Pre-use checks: machine condition, guard integrity, interlock function, emergency stop test, and hydraulic system check
• Tyre inspection before loading: checking for residual inflation pressure and embedded metal objects
• Tyre loading procedure: how the tyre is positioned in the machine and the loading sequence
• Cutting cycle procedure: how the cycle is initiated, what the operator does during the cycle, and where they stand
• Cut section removal: how tread rings and sidewall sections are removed from the machine output area
• Jam-clearing procedure: the precise steps to follow if the machine jams, including power isolation before any manual intervention
• Shutdown procedure: how to safely shut the machine down at the end of a shift
The SSOW should be written specific to your machine model and site layout, and reviewed whenever the machine location, tyre types processed, or operator team changes. Generic SSOWs downloaded from external sources are a starting point only; they must be adapted to reflect actual conditions.
Waste tyres arrive at processing facilities in varying states of inflation. Tyres from tyre dealers and fast-fit centres are usually deflated before disposal. Tyres from scrap vehicles, plant depots, and agricultural operations may retain partial or full inflation pressure. A car tyre at 35 PSI contains enough compressed air to cause serious injury if the tyre ruptures during cutting. An OTR tyre at 90 to 100 PSI represents a significantly greater risk.
The correct procedure is to check every tyre for inflation before processing and to deflate any pressurised tyre before it enters the machine. Deflation should be carried out using a valve core removal tool, not by slashing the tyre, and from a safe position. For large OTR tyres, the operator should stand to the side of the tyre rather than directly in front of or above the tread area during deflation.
Some operations skip the deflation check when under production pressure. This is the single most common cause of cutting-related incidents in tyre processing. A flat check takes 10 seconds per tyre. There is no production rate that justifies omitting it.
Tyre cutting equipment produces noise from two sources: the hydraulic power unit running continuously during operation, and the impact and cutting noise during the active stroke. Noise levels vary by machine model and tyre type, but may exceed 80 dB(A) LEQ in the operator position, which triggers requirements under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005.
Where a noise assessment shows levels above 80 dB(A), the area must be designated as a hearing protection zone, hearing protection must be provided to all workers who enter the zone, and noise exposure must be included in the health surveillance programme. For fixed installations, acoustic enclosures around the hydraulic power unit can reduce ambient noise levels during continuous operation.
The HSE guideline figure for manual handling risk assessment is 25 kg. Car tyres at 7 to 15 kg are within this range for healthy adults, but repetitive lifting at volume creates cumulative musculoskeletal risk even with light loads. Truck tyres at 50 to 100 kg and OTR tyres at 100 kg and above are beyond safe manual handling limits and require mechanical assistance.
For high-volume car tyre operations, conveyor systems between the tyre intake area, the sidewall cutter, and the baler reduce the number of individual lifts required per shift substantially. The investment in conveying equipment typically pays for itself in reduced operator fatigue, lower absenteeism, and improved throughput consistency as much as in reduced injury rates.
“The operations that have the fewest incidents are the ones that have taken time to write a proper safe system of work and actually trained their operators to follow it. Machine guarding and interlock design takes us as far as the engineering can go. What happens after the operator loads the tyre depends on procedure and training. Both matter equally.”
Yes. Equipment-specific training is a legal requirement under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). No operator should use the machine unsupervised until they have received and demonstrated competence from training. Gradeall provides operator guidance with all equipment. Training records should be kept and updated when operators change.
Pre-use checks at the start of each shift should cover guard condition and interlock function, blade condition, emergency stop function, hydraulic hose condition, and any oil leaks. Full maintenance checks follow the schedule in the operator manual. The sidewall cutter maintenance guide covers these requirements in detail.
All Gradeall tyre cutting equipment carries CE marking, confirming conformity with the essential health and safety requirements of the Machinery Directive. See the full tyre recycling equipment range for specifications.
Stop the machine at the end of the current cycle if possible, or activate the emergency stop. Isolate power at the main isolator. Confirm the blade is in the safe retracted position before any manual intervention. Follow the jam-clearing procedure in the operator manual. Contact Gradeall service support if the jam cannot be safely cleared using the documented procedure.
PUWER requires that work equipment is suitable for the purpose for which it is used, maintained in a safe condition, used only by appropriately trained operators, and subject to inspection. Tyre cutting equipment must have appropriate guards and emergency stop systems, and inspection records must be maintained.
The risk assessment must identify all foreseeable hazards (see the hazard profile section above), evaluate the likelihood and severity of harm from each, specify the control measures in place, and note any residual risk. It should be reviewed when conditions change and following any incident. The risk assessment is a document specific to your operation, not a generic template.
Rubber debris should be cleared from the working area around the machine regularly throughout the shift, not allowed to accumulate to the point of creating a slip hazard or obstructing safe movement. A dedicated rubber debris collection skip positioned adjacent to the machine, emptied when needed, is the most practical arrangement.
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