Fifty years of essentially the same tyre-handling advice begs the question: Have we learned nothing from the fatalities and near-misses? With incidents continuing – including recent lightning-induced explosions – the risk persists. Relying on exclusion zones and waiting periods is prudent, but it's not progressive. Technologies like the Dengus Remote Tyre Deflator offer a safer, more efficient alternative, reducing human exposure and potentially preventing the next tragedy.

If we keep doing the same thing, expecting different outcomes, we might indeed be due for another tyre-related fatality soon. Queensland's mines have led in autonomous tech and safety reforms; it's time to extend that leadership to the more mundane but likely higher exposure Material Unwanted Events (MUEs) such as tyre explosions and the innovation that stares us in the face. Now it's about adoption before the next explosion reminds us why change is overdue.