Narrative:

I am filing this report due to an ongoing safety concern with regards to unsafe tooling for changing the tires on the A320/319 aircraft. The tooling in question is the poorly designed socket in the tire change kits at the terminal and hangar. Last year; 2011; I strained my back due to this socket slipping off the [axle] nut while torquing a tire on an A320 and I was off work for over a month and went through several sessions of physical therapy. Tonight; I was involved with another A320 tire change and nearly a year later; I see nothing has been done to replace or fix this unsafe socket. After I came back from the hospital last year just after injuring my back and before going home; I had sat down with several mangers; supervisors and a company safety representative and discussed ideas to fix and redesign this socket. I am upset that nothing has been done to fix this. The potential for injury to me and my co-workers still exists; not to mention damage to the axle nut and possibly improper torque of this nut; from the sloppy fit of this tool. My most important concern is to keep co-workers from getting hurt like I was last year.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic raises safety concerns about an unsafe and poorly designed axle nut socket tool used to remove and install Main Landing Gear (MLG) tires on A319/320 aircraft. The potential for possible injury to himself and others still exists including improper nut torque and damage to the axle nut from the sloppy fit of the tool.

Narrative: I am filing this report due to an ongoing safety concern with regards to unsafe tooling for changing the tires on the A320/319 aircraft. The tooling in question is the poorly designed socket in the Tire Change Kits at the Terminal and Hangar. Last year; 2011; I strained my back due to this socket slipping off the [axle] nut while torquing a tire on an A320 and I was off work for over a month and went through several sessions of physical therapy. Tonight; I was involved with another A320 tire change and nearly a year later; I see nothing has been done to replace or fix this unsafe socket. After I came back from the hospital last year just after injuring my back and before going home; I had sat down with several Mangers; Supervisors and a company Safety Representative and discussed ideas to fix and redesign this socket. I am upset that nothing has been done to fix this. The potential for injury to me and my co-workers still exists; not to mention damage to the axle nut and possibly improper torque of this nut; from the sloppy fit of this tool. My most important concern is to keep co-workers from getting hurt like I was last year.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.