A tyre inspection checklist mining crews can rely on works at two levels: the operator’s visual check of every tyre, wheel and rim at pre-start and during the shift, and the tyre technician’s thorough inspection of the cleaned assembly at every tyre change. Both levels of tyre and rim inspection are on this page as a complete field checklist.
This guide covers what Queensland’s Recognised Standard 13 and QGN 31 require and how much legal weight each carries, and the heat and lightning events that call for an exclusion zone.
Why tyre and rim checks are a fatal hazard control
An inflated earthmover tyre is a pressure vessel. RS13 records that rapid deflation, tyre fire, ejection of wheel or rim components and toppling of assemblies have caused fatal accidents and serious injuries to mine workers. Three hazards drive most of the checklist:
- Explosive release of stored pressure. QGN 31 notes that tyre, wheel and rim components can be propelled long distances at great speed when a tyre bursts or explodes, and that a tyre run flat or under-inflated can tear open violently when reinflated (“zipper failure”).
- Pyrolysis. QGN 31 defines it as chemical decomposition of the tyre’s inner layer producing gases that form an explosive atmosphere inside the air chamber. QGN 31 warns an internal tyre fire may give no warning signs. Heat sources include hot work with a tyre fitted, under-inflation, powerline contact and lightning.
- Rim component failure. QGN 31 warns that multi-piece rims can disassemble suddenly and catastrophically. Its listed causes include damaged or deformed lock rings, cracked wheels or rims, mismatched or non-approved parts, and loosening fasteners before the tyre is fully deflated.
What RS13 and QGN 31 each cover, and their legal weight
Queensland’s two tyre documents sit under different safety Acts and do not carry the same legal weight. Both appear on the government’s register of recognised standards, guidelines and guidance notes.
Recognised Standard 13 (coal mines)
Recognised Standard 13: Tyre, wheel and rim management is made under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 and was reissued as Version 2.0, gazetted on 21 June 2024. It covers all tyres, wheels and rims on mobile, transportable and fixed plant at a coal mine, including hired and contractor plant.
It supports the procedure required by section 72(a) of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2017 for fitting, removing, testing, maintaining and repairing tyres and rims. Section 73 requires a procedure for checking mobile plant, under which the operator checks the brakes, steering, lights and any other safety features as soon as practicable after taking control. Most sites run the operator’s tyre check as part of that pre-start procedure.
RS13 is not mandatory, but under section 37(3) of the Act you discharge your obligation only by following its way or another way that achieves an equal or better level of risk. RS13 notes that after an incident you may be required to show your method was equivalent.
QGN 31 (mineral mines and quarries)
QGN 31: Tyre, wheel & rim management (Version 2, May 2020) was issued by the Mineral Mines and Quarries Inspectorate for operations under the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999. It says itself that a guidance note is not a guideline as defined in that Act, and that following it may not always be enough to comply. It is not mandatory.
The operator’s check: pre-start and in-shift
Both documents agree operators are the people most likely to find a tyre problem, at pre-start or during the shift. RS13 says check sheets shall be developed so operators know what to look for and how to report it, and QGN 31 says pre-start sheets should include tyre, wheel, rim and fastener inspection.
This is a visual check from a safe position, not a technical assessment. Stand off the sidewall and out of the line of the rim components. Tyres are part of the wider walk-around in our haul truck pre-start checklist, and grading follows the same logic as Category A, B and C pre-start faults.
When an operator finds or suspects a defect, both documents say to mark the area clearly and keep the vehicle out of the tyre bay until it has been inspected by a competent person. QGN 31 adds that the vehicle should be parked in a safe location and kept out of the workshop too.
The tyre technician’s check at every tyre change
The second level is the earthmover tyre inspection done in the tyre bay: RS13 calls for a thorough external and internal inspection of the tyre and a thorough visual inspection of the cleaned wheel or rim at every tyre change, with findings recorded in the maintenance history and damaged or fatigued components considered for non-destructive testing. Three rules belong on every tyre bay wall:
- The 70 per cent rule. A tyre found deflated or below 70 per cent of its recommended cold inflation pressure must be removed and inspected internally, and so should the adjacent dual.
- No heat with a tyre mounted. Hot work, and heat applied to fasteners, is prohibited with tyres mounted, including deflated tyres.
- No pressure adjustment while hot. RS13 says pressure must not be adjusted while the tyre is hot, because bleeding a hot tyre can leave it under-inflated once it cools.
RS13 also expects tyre work to be done by competent, supervised people whose competence the site senior executive has validated.
Heat, fire and lightning: when the check becomes an exclusion zone
Some findings mean nobody goes near the tyre for a while. For a tyre that shows or is suspected of overheating, QGN 31 says park it away from other machinery and workers, set an exclusion zone of at least 300 metres, and let it cool for a minimum of 24 hours before inspection. It adds that a laser surface temperature reading does not necessarily show internal heating.
Powerline contact and lightning strikes get the same treatment in QGN 31: at least 300 metres and a 24 hour quarantine. RS13 also sets a 24 hour quarantine for suspected electrification or internal tyre fire, with the exclusion zone set by risk assessment, and says a truck with a tyre fire does not return to the tyre bay. RS13 also says a tyre TARP should include pressure as a trigger. Our guide to the digital TARP in mining covers how a trigger becomes a response people can see.
The complete tyre inspection checklist mining crews can adapt
Adapt this to your fleet, OEM data and procedures. Your tyre TARP decides what each escalation triggers.
1. Operator pre-start: every tyre, wheel and rim
| Check | What good looks like | Escalate if |
|---|---|---|
| Inflation (visual and TPMS) | No tyre visibly low; every tyre inside its pressure envelope | Visibly low, flat or a TPMS alarm |
| Tread and sidewall | No deep cuts, tears or exposed cords | Cut to the cords, tear or embedded object |
| Bubbles and bulges | Sidewall and shoulder smooth | Bubble, bulge or crescent marks near the shoulder |
| Heat signs | No smell of hot rubber, no smoke | Smell or smoke: treat as a hot tyre (section 3) |
| Between duals | Clear of rock and debris | Rock caught between the tyres |
| Rock ejectors | Fitted and effective | Missing or bent |
| Wheel nuts and studs | All present, no rust streaks around them | Missing, loose or showing movement |
| Rim, lock ring and flanges | Seated evenly, no visible cracks | Crack, gap or misaligned lock ring |
| Valve stem and cap | Undamaged, cap fitted, inner dual extension present | Damaged stem or missing extension |
| Leaks | No tyre additive weeping from the rim | Coloured fluid at a weld, crack or valve |
| Noise | Nothing unusual from the assembly | Cracking or popping noise |
2. In-shift and park-up
| Check | What good looks like | Escalate if |
|---|---|---|
| TPMS during the shift | No high or low pressure alarms | Any alarm: follow the tyre TARP |
| Handling and ride | Normal steering and ride | Pulling, vibration or sudden change |
| Roads and loading area | No spillage or sharp rock on the running surface | Tyre-damaging conditions: tell the supervisor |
| Park-up | Designated area, clear of buildings and people | Suspect tyre parked near people or plant |
| Handover | Defect marked on the tyre and recorded for the next crew | Defect known only to the person who found it |
3. Hazardous conditions: stop, do not inspect up close
| Trigger | Immediate action | Cleared by |
|---|---|---|
| Hot tyre or high pressure alarm | Slow, shorten the cycle or cut payload per the TARP; never bleed a hot tyre | Alarms cleared and pressure back to normal hot running pressure |
| Suspected overheating, smoke or sidewall bubble | Park safe, operator out, at least 300 metres exclusion, cool at least 24 hours | Competent tyre person after cooling |
| Powerline contact or lightning strike | De-energise if possible, park, evacuate with care, at least 300 metres, quarantine at least 24 hours | Site emergency procedure |
| Tyre fire | Stop in a safe area, evacuate, quarantine; not to the tyre bay | Emergency response, then a tyre person |
| Below 70 per cent of cold pressure, or run flat | Stop; do not reinflate | Technician: internal inspection of the tyre and its dual |
| Cracked rim, or loose or missing nuts | Stop; stay out of the rim’s line of fire | Technician, before the vehicle enters the tyre bay |
4. Tyre technician: at each tyre change
| Check | What good looks like | Escalate if |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure before deflation | Pressure checked and chalked on the sidewall | Below 70 per cent: stringent internal inspection |
| Deflation | Both tyres of a dual on multi-piece rims deflated before fasteners are loosened | Will not deflate: unable-to-deflate procedure |
| Tyre internal | Liner intact, no separation or heat damage, cavity clean | Separation, heat signs or debris inside |
| Wheel and rim, cleaned | No cracks in rims, welds or centre discs; no fretting or stud hole damage | Any suspected crack: quarantine, consider NDT |
| Lock ring, side ring, bead seat band | Within OEM tolerances, markings visible | Deformed or damaged: render unusable and discard |
| Compatibility | All components matched per OEM data | Mismatched or non-approved part |
| Hot work | No heat, cutting or welding with a tyre mounted | Any heat applied with a tyre fitted |
| Identification and records | Assembly ID visible; pressures, wear, repairs and NDT recorded with “checked by” | Returned to service with no record |
| Competency | Technician authorised for the task and equipment | Unauthorised person on the assembly |
Where tyre inspections go wrong
- One tick for six tyres. “Tyres OK” records that a box was ticked, not that anyone looked.
- The defect loses its location. The technician gets “cut on a tyre” with no position, size or photo.
- The suspect truck goes to the tyre bay. The natural response is the one both documents warn against.
- An exclusion zone nobody else knows about. The lightning park-up lives on a radio call, and the next shift drives past it.
- Records that never join up. Pre-start findings, tyre changes and NDT results sit in three places, so nobody sees the same rim position coming back.
Tyre damage also tracks road condition, which is why our haul road inspection checklist is the other half of the job. The legal basis for operator checks is in pre-start inspection requirements in mining, and how tyre checks fit with every other inspection is in our guide to mine site inspections in Australia.
Keeping the tyre record and the exclusion zone in one place
The hard part is not knowing what to check. It is getting the finding to the right person with enough detail to act on, and making sure everyone knows a truck is off limits.
In HazView, a site’s own tyre and pre-start forms are converted like for like, then improved. A “no” on a tyre check can open the follow-up questions that matter, such as position, size and signs of heat, with a photo on each. Checklists work offline in the pit and sync back in reception. A hot tyre or lightning park-up can be recorded as a hazard on the site map every role uses, with the area marked restricted or closed, so the next crew sees the exclusion zone. See how it works for operators and workers in the field, or book a demo with your own tyre check sheet.
Related guides
- Mine Site Inspections in Australia: What the Law Requires, What to Check and What a Defensible Record Looks Like
- Shotfirer Pre-Blast Area Inspection Checklist
- Haul Truck Pre-start Checklist for Australian Mine Sites
- Shift Inspection Report: What a Supervisor’s Inspection Must Record
- All Inspections & Checklists guides
Frequently asked questions
Is Recognised Standard 13 mandatory?
Not strictly. RS13 states that recognised standards are not mandatory, but under section 37(3) of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 you meet your obligation only by following the standard’s way or another way that achieves an equal or better level of risk. After an incident, you may have to prove your alternative was equivalent.
Does QGN 31 apply to coal mines?
QGN 31 was issued for mineral mines and quarries under the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999; coal mines work to RS13. QGN 31 is a guidance note, not a guideline under that Act, so it is not mandatory, but its heat and electrification guidance is useful on any site.
How long should a truck be quarantined after a lightning strike?
QGN 31 says at least 300 metres of exclusion and a minimum of 24 hours before anyone inspects it. RS13 also calls for a 24 hour quarantine, with the exclusion zone set by risk assessment. Your site emergency procedure sets the final figures.
What is the 70 per cent rule for earthmover tyres?
A tyre found deflated or below 70 per cent of its recommended cold inflation pressure should be removed and inspected internally before reinflation, because it may have casing damage. The adjacent dual should be removed and inspected too, as it may have been overloaded.
Who can inspect and change mining tyres and rims?
Operators do the visual pre-start and in-shift checks. Removing, inspecting and fitting tyres, wheels and rims is for trained, competent and supervised tyre technicians. RS13 requires verification of competency at least every five years.