2 Alberta companies ordered to pay $550K over OHS violations related to welders' deaths

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2025 8:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Two Alberta companies person admitted to violating provincial occupational wellness and information rules implicit a workplace detonation that killed 2 men astatine an lipid and state tract northbound of Edmonton successful 2022. 

The companies person been ordered to wage much than fractional a cardinal dollars successful fines and penalties, with astir of the wealth going toward information consciousness and acquisition initiatives.

Welders Greg Podulsky, 29, and Darcy Schwindt, 47, were moving connected apical of a vessel connected Nov. 12., 2022, erstwhile an detonation occurred wrong a vessel retention facility, fatally injuring them.

Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. and Peace Pipefitting Inc. each pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of violating Alberta's OHS Act connected Wednesday successful the Slave Lake Court of Justice.

Justice Robert Marceau accepted a associated submission from the companies, which included fines and originative sentences. 

Tamarack indispensable wage $500,000, with astir of the wealth going toward workplace information initiatives and programming tally by CAREERS: The Next Generation Foundation, a non-profit that works with Alberta youth, Energy Safety Canada, a information organization, and Threads of Life, a foundation that supports radical affected by workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths.

Brian Schmidt, Tamarack Energy's CEO, said his institution has supported the workers' families by backing scholarships and marked the deaths wrong the institution with a infinitesimal of soundlessness astatine enactment past year. 

Schmidt said dealing with these tragedies has been the astir hard acquisition yet for his Calgary company.

"We're a tiny institution and determination are not a ton of employees, truthful erstwhile thing similar this happens, it's rather traumatic," helium said Friday successful an interview. 

He besides said it's important for the manufacture to bash what it tin to enactment the welders' families and stock learnings with different companies.

"We changed their lives permanently," helium said.

Peace Pipefitting indispensable wage a $50,000 penalty, $30,000 of which volition spell toward programming astatine Threads of Life. 

The company, which did not respond to a petition for comment, has besides been placed connected enhanced regulatory supervision for 2 years.

Charlene Nahamko, Podulsky's mother, said she wore a sweatshirt bearing a photograph of her lad to tribunal this week.

"I wanted them to cognize helium wasn't conscionable a contractor," she said. 

She said it was shocking to larn much astir the circumstances of her son's decease but becoming progressive with Threads of Life has helped her transportation her sadness and choler successful a antithetic way.

"It's clip for america to enactment that down america and determination guardant with Greg's bequest and propulsion with the information and the education," she said.

Schwindt's household members said successful a written connection shared with CBC News that they are relieved to yet person closure connected the probe and are blessed to spot fines spell toward educating students and preventing akin tragedies. 

"We are looking guardant to moving guardant and anticipation that Darcy volition beryllium remembered not for the mishap that took his life, but for the astonishing son, brother, uncle and person helium was to each of us," the household members said.

According to a spokesperson for Occupational Health Safety, Voltegic Energy Services Ltd., which was besides charged past twelvemonth implicit this incident, is scheduled to beryllium sentenced May 28. 

Charges against a numbered institution were stayed past year. 

In 2024, 203 radical died due to the fact that of workplace wounded oregon unwellness successful Alberta — up from 165 successful 2023.