Safety Events Prepare Students in Tisdale and Melville for Future Workplaces

What substance is added to natural gas to give it an odour? What does it smell like? Students got the answers to these questions and more as part of Cade Sprackman Safety Day events that took place in Tisdale and Melville during May.

Members of SaskEnergy’s Operations team attended the events and had a station set up as part of an “Amazing Safety Quest.” The quest taught students about safety in a variety of industries in the province, so they are prepared before starting their careers.

Operations Managers Elmer Hollinger and Trent Cousins attended the Safety Day event in Melville on May 29.

“Attending the Cade Sprackman Safety Day event is a great opportunity to educate young adults getting into the workforce about natural gas safety, but also safety tips in general,” says Elmer.

The students were later quizzed on what they learned at SaskEnergy’s station, including that a substance is added to natural gas to help with leak detection. The students were asked to explain the name of the substance added to natural gas, so it has a scent (answer: mercaptan) and to describe that scent (answer: rotten eggs, sewer, or skunk). 

Lessons were also shared about safe digging to prevent natural gas lines from being hit. Students were asked to name the service to contact for a line locate before starting to dig (answer: Sask 1st Call) as well as the colour of SaskEnergy’s line locate flags (answer: yellow.) Finally, they were quizzed on the potential consequences of hitting a gas line.

They also learned the purpose of carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and what can cause CO in a home.

The Saskatchewan Safety Council (SSC) helped to organize these events, which were hosted by Tisdale Middle and Secondary School and Melville Comprehensive School. Participating in these events is part of SaskEnergy’s ongoing support of the SSC. 

“Safety is a core value at SaskEnergy and we have been proud to support the Saskatchewan Safety Council for more than 30 years because of this shared value,” says SaskEnergy’s supervisor of Community Engagement, Allix Schweitzer.

The students impressed our Operations team members, who found they were eager to learn about safety.

“It is important for SaskEnergy to participate in events like this to educate kids about natural gas safety and to help prevent accidents and injuries,” says Operations Technician Cody Larivee, who attended the Safety Day event in Tisdale on May 27.

“Early education creates safety-aware citizens who can recognize gas leaks, understand pipeline markings, and know emergency procedures.”

These Safety Day events honour Cade Sprackman, who lost his life at 18 years of age in a preventable workplace incident in 2015. Cade grew up in Hudson Bay, where this event was started to help prevent workplace injuries. The community has hosted an event each year since 2018 with other communities recently coming on board with this initiative to host their own. In addition to Tisdale and Melville, there was also an event in Assiniboia.

“Participating in Cade Sprackman Safety Day events is one of the ways that SaskEnergy can help to create a safer Saskatchewan, by providing students valuable information they can carry forward into their careers,” says Allix.