It’s the first Arena Safety week in Kamloops as city staff will undergo training on various safety procedures, including ammonia leaks.
The move is in light of changes made due to the tragedy after an ammonia leak in Fernie back in 2017.
Parks and Civic Facilities Manager Jeff Putnam says they’ve been working closely with Technical Safety BC and WorkSafeBC.
“We’ve made a lot of changes to how we supervise all our arena plants and facilities,” he said. “Kamloops really relies on them, they’re a major part of our community.”
“What we wanted to do is to get out and celebrate all of the great work that our staff and our teams do to make a facility safe, and to recognize how important they are for the community.”
The week will also be a chance for staff to brush up on their safety knowledge.
“The city has invested several hundred thousand dollars since the Fernie incident on extra sensors, detectors, additional ventilation capacity and we’ve made some changes to our operating procedures to make our staff and the public safe,” added Putnam.
“And we’re really pleased with the work we’ve done and we can see this week growing every year.”
A lot of that work often goes unnoticed by people.
“A typical Kamloops Blazers game, you know we’ve got many staff behind the scenes making sure the ice plant is running safely, making sure the boards and the glass and the facility is clean and well maintained,” he noted.
“There’s a lot of work involved, and we’re really proud of all the work they do.”
The week will end with a public skate on Friday at McArthur Island Park. People will have the chance to skate with Blazer’s mascot Digger, take photos with a Zamboni, and test their arena safety skills.