Miscommunication led to deadly 2022 Kamloops ammonia leak: investigation

An ammonia leak that killed one person at a Kamloops ice-making facility last May was caused by miscommunication and unqualified workers.

That’s according to a report from Technical Safety BC, which says the workers involved in the leak were told that the container had been emptied, despite as much as 1,600 pounds of ammonia still being inside.

“It would have quickly filled the building that the vessel was in and displaced all of the air as well as filled it with this toxic vapour,” director of Technical Safety BC, Jeff Coleman told CityNews.

Read More: Ice-making employee dead after Kamloops ammonia leak

On May 26, 2022, an ice-making facility in the Mount Paul Industrial Park on the Tkemlúps te Secwépemc reserve in Kamloops saw an ammonia release that killed one person, injured multiple others and led to a local evacuation and a shutdown of the area.

An investigation into the cause of the leak found that the primary cause of the incident was a failure to remove ammonia from the refrigeration system before and during its disassembly.

“Several contributing factors led to this incident, including miscommunication, staffing changes, and failing to involve a licensed refrigeration contractor to conduct a complete assessment for the presence of ammonia,” the investigation report says.

Coleman says he hopes the investigation will prevent something similar from happening in the future.

“I really want to bring attention to this incident that occurred, and make sure that we learn from it and…we get licensed contractors involved with the disassembly work to make sure that that equipment is safe and ready for others,” he said.

“The work requires a special skill. Like, in this case, it required a licensed…refrigeration contractor. Those skills have to be brought to that work. It’s not about cost,” Coleman continued.

The investigation report provided recommendations for avoiding incidents like this from happening in the future. They include requiring those who own or manage a refrigeration system use a licensed contractor to carry out the dismantling of the equipment and have the Canadian Standards Association develop guidelines for disassembling such systems.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify the technical cause of the leak.