(A) Pre-employment. Under no circumstance will an individual be placed in a safety sensitive position without proof of the successful completion of an alcohol and/or drug test. Any individual who refuses to submit to such tests, has a detectable amount of alcohol in his or her system, or has a positive controlled substance test result, as defined by the federal regulations, will not be considered for employment with the county.
(B) Random.
(1) A minimum rate of 50% of employees in safety sensitive positions shall be tested annually for drugs and 25% of employees in these positions shall be tested annually for alcohol.
(2) Random drug and alcohol testing may be combined. For example, when testing at 50% drug random rate and 25% alcohol random rate, half of the randomly selected employees chosen for testing would be tested for both drugs and alcohol, while the rest could be tested only for drugs. Alcohol testing will be conducted just prior to, during, or immediately following performance of a safety sensitive function.
(3) Random testing selection requires:
(a) Employee remains in the pool.
(b) Use of a valid random selection process.
(c) Dates for testing will not be announced in advance.
(d) Testing of 50% of employees for drugs and 25% of employees for alcohol.
(C) Post accident.
(1) Employees in safety sensitive positions are required to submit to drug and alcohol testing as soon as possible following a “DOT” accident which involves the loss of human life, or the in the event the employee receives a citation under state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident.
(2) An employee who is subject to post accident testing shall remain readily available for such testing for a period up to eight hours or he or she may be deemed to have refused to subject to testing. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the delay of necessary medical treatment or to prohibit the employee from leaving the scene of an accident for a period necessary to obtain assistance in responding to the accident or to obtain necessary medical care.
(3) No employee required to take a post accident alcohol test shall use alcohol for eight hours following the accident or until he or she undergoes a post accident alcohol test, whichever occurs first.
(4) If an employee is seriously injured and cannot submit to testing at the time of the accident, he or she shall provide the necessary authorization for obtaining hospital reports and other documents that would indicate whether there were any drugs or alcohol in his or her system.
(5) The results of a breath or blood test for the use of alcohol, or a urine test for the use of drugs conducted by federal, state, or local officials having independent authority for the test, shall be considered to meet the requirements for post accident testing if the results are obtained by the county.
(D) Actions to take in a post accident testing situation:
(1) Treat injuries as necessary.
(2) Cooperate with law enforcement.
(3) Explain the need for testing.
(4) Cooperate with the appropriate medical facility.
(5) Collect all specimens promptly.
(6) Document all events.
(D) Reasonable suspicion.
(1) The county is required to test for the use of alcohol and controlled substances upon “reasonable suspicion”. Reasonable suspicion is defined to mean, that the county believes the behavior, speech, body odor, or appearance of an employee while on duty is indicative of the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances. The conduct must be witnessed by a supervisor, if so trained. Supervisor(s) will receive at least two hours of training to further their knowledge of possible signs of alcohol and/or drug abuse that influences an employee’s fitness for duty. The mere possession of alcohol does not constitute a need for an alcohol test. The witness must have received training in the detection of probable alcohol and drug use by observing a person’s behavior. If it is at all possible, the witness should not conduct the alcohol test in order to protect the employee.
(2) Alcohol testing is authorized only if the observations are made during, just before, or just after the period of the work day of the employee. A written record shall be made of the observations leading to a reasonable suspicion alcohol and/or controlled substance test. This record is to be signed by the supervisor who requires a reasonable suspicion test and shall include all observations that culminated in the test(s) being administered.
(a) If a reasonable suspicion alcohol test is not administered within two hours following the observations, the witness shall prepare and maintain on file a record stating the reasons the alcohol test was not administered promptly. In addition, if not administered within eight hours, all attempts to administer the test shall cease. A record shall be prepared and maintained stating why the alcohol test was not administered.
(b) Prior to the start of work, an employee must report to his or her immediate supervisor, use of any prescription and/or over the counter drugs which may affect job performance or the safety of others. It is the employee’s responsibility to obtain from his or her physician a determination as to whether or not the drug could affect job performance.
(c) All information obtained in the course of testing of employees shall be protected as confidential medical information. No data concerning this information will be made a part of the employee’s personnel file nor will it be provided to any other party without the direct written consent of the employee, unless the results are grounds for discipline and/or the grievance procedure is requested by the employee.
(d) Failure to sign a release for alcohol and drug testing will be classified as a refusal to carry out an order of a supervisor and the employee shall be terminated.
(e) Refusal to submit to an alcohol and/or controlled substance test as required will be recorded as a positive test. Refusal to submit to an alcohol or controlled substance test means that an employee fails to provide adequate breath for testing without valid medical explanation after he or she has received notice of the requirement for breath testing in accordance with this policy; fails to provide adequate urine for controlled substance testing without a valid medical explanation after he or she has received notice of the requirement for testing in accordance with this policy; or engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process.
(f) Urine specimens which the laboratory reports as unacceptable with regard to measured levels on creatinine, specific gravity or pH will be issued by the Medical Review Officer as a negative with notation of dilute status. The county reserves the right to require the employee to provide another specimen for testing. The employee will be notified of such and have the opportunity to have the dilute status explained to him or her before recollection is scheduled. If a dilute specimen is reported, the employee will be required to submit another specimen unless a medical condition is the cause of the dilute result. If a second dilute specimen is obtained, the employee may be suspended from work until a valid specimen is obtained at the employees expense. If a valid specimen is not obtained within three days from the first retest, the employees may be terminated.
(g) If the Medical Review Officer issues a cancelled test result, the employee may be asked to submit another specimen depending on the reason for the cancelled report.
(3) As stipulated in the federal regulations, an employee testing positive for alcohol (.04 or greater) or for a controlled substance shall be prohibited from driving or performing a safety sensitive function for the county and be referred to the supervisor. Employees testing .02 or greater, but less than .04 shall also not drive or perform safety sensitive functions for the county, nor shall the county permit him or her to perform a safety sensitive function, until the start of the employee’s next regularly scheduled duty period, but not less than 24 hours following administration of the test or until a disposition of possible discipline is decided. Employees may be subject to discipline, as contained in the county personnel policy.
(Res. 1998-02, passed 3-2-1998)