Share
Hon. Chris Beaudry
Minister of Energy and Resources
Legislative Assembly
Room 302, 2405 Legislative Drive, Regina, SK
Dave Rezansoff
Chief Mines Inspector
Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, Mines Unit
122 3rd Avenue N, Saskatoon, SK
Dear Minister Beaudry and Chief Inspector Rezansoff,
On behalf of the thousands of Unifor members across the province of Saskatchewan, we want to express our profound concern regarding the investigation into the workplace fatality that occurred at Mosaic’s K3 Potash Mine on December 15th, 2025, which took the life of Unifor Local 892 member, Tyrone McLeod. We are writing to you not only to demand accountability in the case of Tyrone’s tragic and preventable death, but also to raise broader concerns about the integrity, transparency, and independence of investigations into fatal accidents, not just within Saskatchewan's mining industry but across all sectors.
In April of this year, Unifor Local 892 requested a copy of the investigation and root cause analysis report, which Mosaic was mandated to perform under Section 3-18 of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020. The local union copied both the mines inspector responsible for overseeing the case as well as the office of the Chief Mines Inspector. Remarkably, not only did Mosaic summarily reject the local’s request, the company stated outright that they intended to keep the report “strictly confidential” and would not be releasing it, claiming to have fulfilled their legal obligations.
A fatality is the most serious incident that can occur in any workplace. Any accident at a workplace deserves an impartial investigation that is both rigorous and transparent, and which upholds confidence in the investigative process among the workers affected directly by the incident and the public at large. Sadly, what has transpired in this case has achieved the opposite outcome.
By announcing that they intend to keep the root cause analysis a secret, Mosaic is directly undermining confidence in their willingness to address the underlying factors that contributed to Tyrone’s fatal accident, so that similar tragedies can be prevented in the future. Questions about the integrity of the company’s investigation into the accident naturally arise when the employer cavalierly proclaims that the details of their findings will remain inaccessible to those directly impacted, including to Tyrone’s family and his fellow union members.
There is the broader issue of a direct conflict of interest embedded in Saskatchewan’s occupational health and safety regulations, which assign primary responsibility over the investigation of a fatal workplace accident to the employer, and which allow companies to shield the results of their investigation from broader scrutiny. A systemic lack of transparency and the absence of any rigorous third-party oversight over such workplace fatality investigations in the province means that no one should be surprised when companies absolve themselves of any wrong-doing and fail to commit meaningful changes to prevent future accidents.
Families who have lost loved ones, co-workers affected by these tragedies, and the people of Saskatchewan must be reassured that fatality investigations are independent, thorough, and focused solely on uncovering root causes and preventing future deaths. Transparency and impartiality are essential to maintaining trust in Saskatchewan's occupational health and safety regulatory system.
Accordingly, Unifor respectfully requests that your offices:
- Review the handling of this workplace fatality investigation to determine whether it met appropriate standards of independence and transparency.
- Explain the legal basis for Mosaic withholding the findings of their root cause analysis from the affected parties.
- Provide Unifor with an unredacted copy of the investigation form and root cause analysis report.
- Confirm what oversight the Ministry exercises over employer-led investigations into workplace fatalities.
- Implement legislative or policy changes that would require independent oversight or independent investigations of workplace fatalities in Saskatchewan.
- Provide a written response outlining the actions your offices intend to take regarding these concerns.
No family or co-worker should be left questioning whether the root cause behind a tragic event such as Tyrone’s death has been adequately investigated, simply because the chief investigator is simultaneously the party whose actions, policies and procedures may have contributed to the fatality itself.
We respectfully ask that you give these concerns serious consideration and provide us with a written response clearly addressing the issues raised above.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this important matter. We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Lana Payne
National President
Gavin McGarrigle
Western Regional Director
