(A) Pre-employment. Under no circumstances will an individual be placed in a safety sensitive position without proof of a successful completion of drug tests. Any individual who refuses to submit to drug tests, 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 drivers 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 pool;
(b) Use valid random selection process;
(c) Do not announce dates for testing; and
(d) Test 50% of drivers for drugs and 25% of drivers for alcohol.
(C) Post accident.
(1) Drivers 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 driver receives a citation under the state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident.
(2) A driver who is subject to post accident testing shall remain readily available for testing for a period up to eight hours or he or she may be deemed by the county 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 driver 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 driver 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 a driver 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.
(6) Actions to take in a post accident testing situation:
(a) Treat injuries;
(b) Work with law enforcement;
(c) Explain the need for testing;
(d) Work with medical facility;
(e) Collect specimens promptly; and
(f) Document 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 are indicative of the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances. The conduct must be witnessed by a supervisor, if so trained. Supervisors 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 driver.
(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 the work, a driver 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 driver’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 drivers 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 driver, 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 refusal to carry out an order of a supervisor and the employee shall be terminated.
(e) Refusal to submit to alcohol and/or controlled substance testing as required will be recorded as a positive test. Refusal to submit to an alcohol or controlled substance test means that an employee:
1. 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;
2. 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
3. Engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process.
(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 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 safety sensitive functions, 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, up to and including discharge.
(4) (a) Performing a safety sensitive function means a driver is considered to be performing a safety sensitive function during any period in which he or she is actually performing, ready to perform or immediately available to perform any safety sensitive function.
(b) A SAFETY SENSITIVE FUNCTION is defined as:
1. All time spent at a facility, or other property, or on any public property, waiting to be dispatched, unless the driver has been relieved from duty by the county;
2. All time spent inspecting equipment, otherwise inspecting, servicing or conditioning any motor vehicle at any time;
3. All driving time spent at the driving controls of a motor vehicle in operation;
4. All time, other than driving time, in or upon any motor vehicle;
5. All time loading or unloading a vehicle, supervising, or assisting in the loading or unloading, attending a vehicle being loaded or unloaded, or remaining in readiness to operate the vehicle;
6. All time spent performing the driver requirements relating to an accident; and
7. All time repairing, obtaining assistance or remaining in attendance upon a disabled vehicle.
(Res. R-C-95-24, passed 12-11-1995)