The family of a Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. worker who died underground in an accident 16 months ago in Lanigan says charges brought against the company and a mine supervisor Thursday are only a start.

Sylvia Tkach, widow of mine worker Robert Tkach, said Thursday the family wants to see heavy fines levied and more resources poured into preventing future deaths in the mining sector.

"I'd like my husband back," Tkach said. "Nothing is going to bring him back and we have to live with this burden, this horrible pain, for the rest of our lives. Workers in Saskatchewan need to stand up and have a look and see this going on and demand changes, from higher penalties to changes to workers' compensation to more prevention."

PotashCorp was handed five charges, all alleging failure to provide safety and supervision, under the province's Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act in connection with Robert Tkach's death in September 2008.

Garth Gudnason, a mine supervisor, was also charged under the act with "failure to take reasonable care to protect the health and safety of a worker who may be affected by his acts or omissions."

The government investigation into what happened, released two months after the incident, said a lack of training, a failure to mark hazards and having no seatbelt in the vehicle Tkach was riding in played a role in causing the death.

Tkach's jeep went over the edge of a ramp as he was trying to negotiate a corner on his way to an assigned job. The jeep fell about two metres to the ground and Tkach, 60, was pinned underneath.

During the shift before Tkach died, two workers almost suffered the same fate at the same location, the report said. One wheel of their vehicle hung over the ledge before they were able to reverse up the ramp to safety. The workers didn't report the ledge was a hazard, which should have been marked, the report said.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of $300,000 -- paid to the provincial government -- and two years in jail. A court date has been set for March 7 in Humboldt.

PotashCorp spokesperson Bill Johnson said Thursday the company "is tremendously sorry that this accident took place. . . . Any time there's an accident at one of our work sites we try to do everything we can to help the family through it," he said.

Jennifer Fabian, director of safety services for the province's OHS branch, told reporters in Regina PotashCorp has made improvements in its training systems, "particularly how workers are trained in the identification of hazards" since the incident.

The branch has discussed how to create a "systematic, methodical approach to managing safety" after such basic steps as putting up a barrier and proper signage were missed in the Tkach case, Fabian said.

Sylvia Tkach said the family has fought for the last 16 months for charges to be laid against individuals and the company as "justice" for what has become a life-shifting tragedy that should have been prevented.

Several members of the family have been through counselling, taken stress leave and lost jobs as a result of the death, but have been compensated very little, she said.

"We need to understand what happened and need to know there has been changes," she said. "My husband would have done this for any one of us and he never would have let it go."

Last year, Tkach left her job in the pulp and paper sector to focus on a career in occupational health and safety, researching her husband's case and exploring safety problems in the soft-rock mining sector in Saskatchewan, which she says are under-reported.

"I believe the fines in Saskatchewan are not high enough and not levied at a maximum enough. Some people might get fined $600 for killing someone. If you can't work safely, maybe you shouldn't be in business.

"There's nothing my husband could have done to change the outcome, yet there's a company and individuals who could have changed the situation and didn't," she said. "Do I feel there could have been more charges against more individuals? Yes. But I am happy there's something, because it's better than nothing."

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