Municipality of Lambton shores fined $50,000 after worker injured while cleaning Zamboni

A Zamboni ice resurfacer cleans a rink. Photo: Adobe Stock

An Ontario municipality has been fined $50,000 after a worker was injured while trying to clean a Zamboni ice resurfacer.

On Nov. 26, 2021, a worker at The Shores Recreation Centre in the Municipality of Lambton Shores was operating the Zamboni on the ice pad, when its conditioner and auger system became plugged.

The worker drove the ice resurfacer off the ice pad, emptied the snow tank outside and parked the machine in the ice resurfacing room.

The worker then raised the snow tank, installed the snow tank safety stand bar and turned the machine off. They flushed the auger with water while standing near the machine. As the worker pulled the hose out, they reached in with their hand to check if the auger was free from snow. The auger moved, and the worker sustained an injury.

There was no procedure in place for flushing the auger of the ice resurfacer, or for its operation, maintenance and/or cleaning.

Section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that an employer provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health and safety of the worker at a workplace.

The Corporation of the Municipality of Lambton Shores, as an employer, failed to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker with respect to the safe operation, maintenance and/or cleaning of the Zamboni ice resurfacer, contrary to the Act.

Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court, the Municipality of Lambton Shores was fined $50,000.

The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.