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Everything you should know about reasonable suspicion training
Employees, such as supervisors who receive reasonable suspicion training can recognize the signs that a person is abusing substances before serious accidents can happen. In this way, they can have an easier time when it comes to maintaining a safe working environment. Several studies have indicated that there are many trucks that are traveling on the road, but they carry more weight and travel more miles. Unfortunately, there is an increase of accidents that involve transports and this has led to the rise of the costs. Deaths from large truck accidents have also risen. No doubt, this is a dangerous industry.
After all, with 40 tons of steel traveling on the highways and truck drivers with the pressure to deliver their goods timely, it’s no surprise that companies and the government are taking alcohol and drug use while on the job seriously. This is why most companies choose the DOT reasonable suspicion training certificate for their supervisors. Besides adhering to the regulations of the Department of Transportation (DOT) about random testing and other forms of drug testing, a supervisor can remove any driver right away when they show signs of drug or alcohol use from safety-sensitive positions and insist on extra testing. This post discusses everything you should know about reasonable suspicion training.
Reasonable suspicion training
You cannot risk having a driver who may be high or intoxicated, but you need to be sure or even reasonably sure that your employee is actually showing signs of alcohol or drug use. This is the reason why it makes sense to have reasonable suspicion training, especially for your supervisors. You should note that reasonable suspicion training for most or all Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration covered staff. It can also work for non-DOT staff so that you can avoid several legal liability problems.
Some studies suggest that the chances of liability can be pretty significant compared to what they previously believed. Several studies have uncovered that truckers usually utilize cannabis, amphetamines, alcohol, and cocaine to get through their grueling and long hours on the road.
Therefore, if you fail to train your supervisors and other employees in reasonable suspicion training, it can have bad consequences. All employers, regardless of whether or not DOT covers them, failure to properly train their supervisors can lead to an increase in liability.
Firstly, there is an extra liability related to accusing your employee incorrectly and running problems with labor regulations. Secondly, there is also liability related to allowing your driver who is under the influence of either alcohol or drugs to continue working for you. Ideally, if your driver is intoxicated and gets involved in an accident, your company can bear some of the expensive liability costs associated with the accident.
You should note that all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as well as DOT covered supervisors who are entrusted with calling for a reasonable suspicion need to have at least 60 minutes of drug use training and 60 minutes of alcohol use training. But this training requirement is usually not necessary for owners, though they can decide to join a random testing group. There are also no rules when it comes to reasonable suspicion training for a supervisor in a non-DOT role, but it’s a good idea that you should take similar care in training so that you can avoid costly litigation or errors. Many providers providing non-DOT reasonable suspicion training usually offer courses that tend to have the same length as DOT courses.
The curriculum for reasonable suspicion
DOT or non-DOT reasonable suspicion training can cover several topics that are similar. The main focus when it comes to DOT reasonable suspicion training is to make sure that a supervisor can recognize whether or not your safety-sensitive employee or DOT should go for further testing before they drive again. Non-DOT employers just focus on recognizing the signs of alcohol or drug use so that they can protect their business from avoidable liabilities and to make sure that they make the proper recommendations.
With DOT governed employers, they need to base their reasonable suspicion on immediate or contemporaneous observations that are specific and articulate. On the other hand, non-DOT employers can include reasonable suspicion on ongoing, recurring, or cumulative signs.
In most cases, reasonable suspicion training can include how you can recognize several signs. This includes behavior, speech, appearance, mood, movement, odor, and balance.
A good training course needs to include an overview of several drugs that may be abused. It should also have an overview of the current and new DOT regulations, or any additional state or federal regulations that can apply. Others are a review of drug or alcohol testing procedures and the role of the Substance Abuse Professional and the Medical Review Officer.
It can also cover some of the expectations after reasonable suspicion determination, such as interventions, employee interviews, confirmation testing, and documentation. This is especially important for DOT because it usually has strict rules associated with the documentation of reasonable suspicion. For instance, you need to document any actions related to reasonable suspicion within 24 hours of the incident.
If your company employs both DOT and non-DOT covered staff, then your supervisors need to balance two sets of different reasonable suspicion requirements. A good workplace drug or alcohol policy should assist and make sure that your supervisor gets DOT and non-DOT reasonable suspicion training.
In conclusion, when determining reasonable suspicion for either drug or alcohol testing, you should consider a couple of things. Your observations also need to be objective and specific. Also, you need to write down your observations, write them in the right forms when doing it. Above all, you have to make the observations at the right time. If you see that there are signs of alcohol, then the right time can be different from the signs of drug use. And, having reasonable suspicion for drug or alcohol testing doesn’t mean that your employee will test positive. It just means that you have factual observations that may show that they can. A negative result doesn’t prove that you were wrong to test your employee.