Steve Yaremy, owner of Yaremy Screw Piles, was thrilled his company received the recognition. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

Recognized for safety

Melfort’s Yaremy Screw Piles recognized for safe digging practices

Apr 16, 2025 | 1:09 PM

A Melfort company has been recognized by SaskEnergy for their safe digging practices.

Yaremy Screw Piles has received a SaskEnergy Safe Digging Excellence Award, one of three handed out in Saskatchewan.

Owner/operator Steve Yaremy told northeastNOW that he and his team were shocked to win the award.

“We’re honoured to know that we try to work safe, when we try to get home at night, that’s our common goal is everyone wants to go home at night,” said Yaremy.

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April is Safe Digging Month, but Yaremy said it’s a year-long mantra he and his work team believe in. He said he couldn’t be happier to be part of his team and to be recognized for doing their job properly.

“Whether we’re laser grading, whether we’re soil conditioning, whether we’re installing screw piles, we need a line locate for all three of those services,” explained Yaremy. He said SaskEnergy line locates are free and are vital in ensuring that the job is done safely.

Many of the job sites Yaremy’s crew works at have multiple crews working at once, and they all want to make it home safely to their families at the end of the day. He said doing a job safely without rushing is vital to making sure nobody is injured or killed.

Yaremy said he has heard from prospective clients that his team “should be good” digging in an area, but he’s a firm believer that “should be good” isn’t good enough. He added it’s a pet peeve of his for people who don’t want to take an extra couple of days to get a free line locate.

He credited his office staff in doing the work required to call for line locates for not only SaskEnergy, but also SaskTel, SaskPower, and SaskWater.

“We don’t want to damage anything, we don’t want to get any fines, and we certainly don’t want to see anybody ever get killed,” said Yaremy.

SaskEnergy Executive Vice President, Customer Service Operations Kevin Adair said in a news release that “contractors like Yaremy Screw Piles, who reduce the risk of damage to underground infrastructure through their approach to their work, deserve to be recognized and this is why the Safe Digging Excellence Award was created.”

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com