HEALTH & SAFETY: Tyres have expiry Dates

To start with, car tyres are very important to the life of a motorist because that is the only link between the vehicle and the road. It carries the load in the vehicle and to a large extent, can determine the safety of all occupants in a vehicle at any point in time.

Vehicle tyres have a 4-year validity period from their Date of Manufacture (DOM). Thereafter, the tyre expires and may burst whilst in use. If used carefully, after two years the tire loses about 20% of its qualities and by the age of three it reaches about 50%. An appropriate age for tire replacement is thus between the age of 2-4years, unless worn down earlier by damage, alignment problems or mileage. The process can also be intensified with high-mileage tires or when unused tires are stored in bad conditions, or when a car is parked permanently for a long time. Likewise, countries with shifty weather, bad roads and especially hot and moist lands all rush the process.
I know you might be saying right now, quit all the sermon, how do I find out whether my tire has expired?

·         First, check for a stamp like this: (*0504*). There is an asterisk at the

beginning and at the end of this serial number (Some tires don't have asterisk) or sometimes it comes with pre-alphabet letters like this (*PHN0504*) .

In all cases, the first two numbers of the last 4 digits, in this case  - 0  and 5  will tell which week of the year has it been manufactured. Note: One year has 52 weeks. The last two numbers represent the year of make. Therefore, (*0504*) shows that the said tyre is manufactured in the 5^th week of the year 2004. *4099* this shows that the tire is made in the 40th week of 1999. So in this case, this tyre has over-expired...burn it! Any car, bike or truck tyre higher than 4years from current year is high risk.

·   Check all your tires for safety purposes. Do not use expired tires. They are likely to burst, especially when running in hot weather because the rubber component may have hardened and cracked.

Julius Abanshebe Akpong TMIOSH, MISPON, is a Member of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria has published books like, Simplified Chemistry for Senior Secondary 1, The path to Greatness, Reaching the Apex, Atmospheric heavy metals deposition and dispersion in Akpabuyo LGA of Cross River State. He is the publisher of the SuperPsychic Achiever, several HSE articles and bulletins for corporate bodies, international journals and newspapers like Business Insight and is yet to publish his first HSE book; HAZID companion.