Earlier this year, CNL took steps to discourage speeding on Plant Road at the Chalk River Laboratories site, an ongoing issue that represents a real risk to the people working at our main campus. Among other changes, this included reducing the posted speed limit from 80 km / hour to 60 km / hour, an improvement that was proposed by the Site Safety & Health Committee following an extensive review.
While the vast majority of employees/contractors follow our speed limits and other traffic laws on site, speeding on Plant Road continues to be an ongoing and serious issue. With the increase in heavy equipment vehicles, variable weather conditions, and the presence of wildlife on our site, this is a problem that we must resolve in order to fully protect our workers, contractors and the many visitors that come to the campus.
Beginning on Tuesday, November 2, CNL will be phasing in the use of the information captured on the speed cameras on Plant Road. These cameras automatically capture any vehicles travelling in excess of the posted speed limit, and the owners of these vehicles will be identified.
Contractors who fall into the category of excessive speed, will be notified daily of speeding infractions. Subsequent speeding violations will lead to escalation and could eventually culminate in the removal of a contractor’s driving privileges on CNL sites if the issue persists.
Over time, this approach to speeding management will be replaced with a demerit point system, where each employee/contractor will have a limited number of driving points that will be reduced with every infraction, with escalating consequences. We anticipate that this program will be launched sometime in 2022.
For the many employees/contractors who follow the speed limit, this should not be a cause for concern. For those who do not follow the posted limits, I ask that you take this issue much more seriously. We have had accidents on Plant Road in the past that have been associated with speeding, some of which could easily have been fatal, and it is our sincere hope that this change will help contain this very persistent issue, so that we can all go home safely at night to our families.
Dan Wood
Chief Operating Officer
If you have any questions please contact [email protected]