A Nova Scotia entrepreneur says he’s being met with red tape in his home province with getting his traffic safety device approved in Nova Scotia, even though it’s been approved elsewhere.
Mitchell Hollohan, the CEO of Site 20/20 Inc., is the creator of the Guardian SmartFlagger, an automated, flagged traffic device that makes construction sites safer. It’s essentially a portable traffic light manned by one person with a tablet.
He says it has the potential to save lives.
“They’re still on the job, managing the job, but from a safe location and not directly in front of traffic where they can be hit by a vehicle,” said Hollohan.
The 26-year-old started the project six years ago while at Dalhousie University. It’s since been approved in 38 states in the U.S. and eight Canadian provinces — but not Nova Scotia. Hollohan says he’s been working with the Nova Scotia government for five years to get the SmartFlagger approved in the province, but has been met with red tape.
“The one province that has continued to push us out is Nova Scotia — our hometown,” said Hollohan.
“I have a board of directors and investors who want to see this company grow, but they continue to ask me, why am I here? Why am I in a province that doesn’t support our mission, our goals?”
The Department of Public Works declined an on-camera interview, but in an email said it plans to have rules for automated flagging devices in an updated traffic control manual in spring 2023.
“We plan to have rules for the automated flagging devices in the updated manual,” said Deborah Bayer, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works. “We want to ensure our work zones are safe for workers and motorists.”
Construction Safety Nova Scotia says reducing the risk on work sites is paramount, as the opportunity for error and accidents is always present.
“There’s almost limitless opportunity to apply technology to the construction sector,” said Perry Sankarsingh, director of quality and innovation at Construction Safety Nova Scotia, “so to the extent that we can use technology to help improve communication between workers themselves and traffic, the people, that they’re trying to manage, is always a step in the right direction.”
It’s a step Nova Scotia has been slow to move on, as other provinces have approved the Smart Flagger in less than a year, according to Hollohan.
“Nova Scotia is not a massive revenue opportunity, but at the end of the day, this product was built to improve the safety of traffic control people and flaggers, and to not be doing that in my home province, it’s painful,” he said.
Hollohan said he would love to keep his company at home in Nova Scotia, but without government support, he says he and his technology might be driven out of the province.
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