DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING OF EMPLOYEES OPERATING DISTRICT VEHICLES
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance with respect to drug and alcohol testing of District employees who drive a vehicle transporting sixteen (16) or more persons, including the driver, and who drive vehicles weighing over 26,001 pounds requiring a commercial driver's license.
Alcohol and drug testing of employees and applicants shall be conducted in accordance with state and federal law.
Refusal by an employee to submit to alcohol or drug tests shall result in immediate suspension and shall be grounds for termination. Any employee of the District who tests positive for alcohol or drug use in violation of District policies and procedures may, on the first offense, be subject to discipline, including termination, or may be referred for substance abuse evaluation and rehabilitation. The employee shall not return to work until released by a licensed substance abuse professional approved by the District and until all other requirements are met. A second offense will result in immediate termination of the employee’s employment with the District.
DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING REGULATIONS
These procedures support the Alcohol and Drug Testing policy required for employees operating school vehicles, and establish and explain the requirements of the District's Alcohol and Drug Testing policy required for employees operating school vehicles. Note the definition of terms is included at the end of this policy.
A. Questions regarding the policy, its supporting procedures or the alcohol and drug testing program may be directed to the District contact person, the assistant-to-the-superintendent, with the superintendent serving as an alternate.
B. Covered Drivers
1. To be covered under this Alcohol and Drug Testing Policy, a driver must:
2. Covered drivers include, but are not limited to, the following:
C. Prohibited Driver Conduct
1. Drivers shall not report to duty or remain on duty with a 0.04 or greater breath alcohol concentration.
2. Drivers shall not use alcohol at least eight (8) hours prior to the performance of a safety sensitive function.
3. Drivers shall not possess alcohol while on duty unless the alcohol is manifested and transported as part of a shipment. This includes possessing prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines containing alcohol, unless the packaging seal is unbroken.
4. Drivers required to take a post-accident alcohol test shall not use alcohol within eight (8) hours following the accident or prior to undergoing a post-accident alcohol test, whichever comes first.
5. Drivers shall not refuse to submit to an alcohol or drug test. A refusal to test is considered a positive test result requiring the driver to undergo evaluation by a substance abuse professional (SAP) and subjecting the driver to discipline up to and including termination.
6. Drivers shall not report for duty or remain on duty when using any drug except when instructed by a physician who has advised the driver that the drug does not adversely affect the driver's ability to safely operate a school vehicle.
7. Drivers shall not report for duty when under the influence of drugs, or remain on duty performing a safety sensitive function if the driver has a positive drug test result.
D. Alcohol Testing Procedures
1. An employee driver's breath is tested for alcohol.
2. Evidentiary breath testing devices (EBTs) are used to conduct the initial and, if necessary, the confirmation, alcohol tests.
3. Alcohol testing is conducted at collection sites that provide privacy to the driver and contain the necessary equipment, personnel and materials.
4. Initial Alcohol Testing Steps
5. Evidentiary Breath Device Procedures
6. Saliva Alcohol Testing Device Procedures
The driver and the collection site person review the expiration date of the saliva alcohol testing device, and if the date is valid, the packaging is opened.
The driver or collection site person places the swab in the driver's mouth until the swab is completely saturated. If the alcohol test is started again, only the collection site person may place the swab in the driver's mouth.
7. Confirmation Alcohol Testing Procedures
E. Drug Testing Procedures
1. Driver's urine is tested for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and phencyclidine.
2. A split sample urine test is used to conduct the drug test.
3. Drivers taking medication at a doctor's direction may perform a safety sensitive function if the doctor determines there is not an adverse affect on performing a safety sensitive function and the District is informed in writing of the medication and doctor's opinion.
4. Drug testing is conducted to provide privacy to the driver and where the necessary equipment, personnel and materials are located.
5. Drug Testing Steps
6. Laboratory
7. Medical Review Officer (MRO) reviews drug test results.
F. Substance Abuse Professional
1. A Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) evaluation and following his/her recommendations, is required when a driver:
2. The evaluation determines what assistance, if any, the driver needs in resolving problems with alcohol misuse and/or drug use.
3. A local SAP will provide assistance to the drivers
G. Pre-Employment Testing
1. Drivers shall submit to an alcohol and drug test if a job offer is made. The job offer is contingent upon:
2. Prior to allowing a driver to perform a safety sensitive function, the following information must be obtained about the driver for the preceding two years from the date of the application:
H. Random Testing
1. Annually, ten percent (10%) of the average number of drivers are selected for random alcohol tests and fifty percent (50%) of the average number of drivers are selected for random drug tests.
2. The drivers' identification numbers are selected by a scientific method giving drivers an equal chance to be selected.
3. Random tests are unannounced and performed throughout the year.
4. Drivers selected for random alcohol testing are informed of a random alcohol test just before, during or just after performing a safety sensitive function.
5. Drivers selected for random drug testing are informed as soon as possible after the assistant-to-the-superintendent, with the superintendent serving as an alternate, receives the driver identification numbers. The District must document why some, if any, drivers were selected, but not informed.
6. The selected driver must proceed immediately to the collection site. However, drivers performing a safety sensitive function must safely stop and proceed to the collection site as soon as possible.
I. Reasonable Suspicion Testing
1. Drivers who exhibit observable specific, contemporaneous, articulable characteristics concerning the appearance, behavior, speech or body odors as well as indications of the chronic and withdrawal effects of drugs may be required to submit to a reasonable suspicion drug test at any time.
2. Drivers who exhibit specific, observable, contemporaneous, articulable characteristics concerning the appearance, behavior, speech, or body odors of the driver if the reasonable suspicion was determined just before, during or just after the time in which the driver must be in compliance with this policy, its supporting procedures or the law may be required to submit to a reasonable suspicion alcohol test just before, during, or just after performing a safety sensitive function.
3. A reasonable suspicion test request is made by an employee who has received the training to determine reasonable suspicion. The reasons for the reasonable suspicion must be documented within twenty-four (24) hours or prior to the release of the test results. If more than one employee trained to determine reasonable suspicion observes the driver, that employee must also document their reasons. The transportation director and assistant-to-the-superintendent have received the required Reasonable Suspicion Training.
J. Post-Accident Testing
1.Drivers are subject to both post-accident alcohol and drug tests as soon as possible after an accident in which either of the following occurred:
2. Drivers must remain readily available for post-accident testing.
3. Alcohol Testing Requirements
4. Drug Testing Requirements
5. Results of drug or alcohol testing conducted by law enforcement officers or other officials on the scene with independent authority to conduct such tests are presumed valid if the testing conforms with the law. The District must receive a copy of the results to use them.
K. Return-to-Duty/Follow-Up Testing
1. Prior to returning to duty after a positive test or otherwise violating this policy, the following must occur:
2. For individuals changing jobs after a positive drug or alcohol tests, a pre-employment test can serve as a return-to-duty test if one is needed based on information from a prior employer.
3. fter returning to duty, the driver is subject to six (6) unannounced follow-up tests within twelve (12) months for alcohol, drugs or both, if the SAP determines both are necessary.
L. District’s Responsibilities
1. Information on the alcohol and drug testing requirements of this policy, its supporting procedures and the law, including the driver's obligations, must be provided to drivers. A summary of the requirements must be included in the employee handbook.
2. Supervisors of drivers or personnel designated to determine reasonable suspicion shall receive sixty (60) minutes of training on alcohol misuse and sixty (60) minutes of training on drug use. The training must address the physical, behavioral, speech, and performance indicators of probable alcohol misuse and drug use.
3. Prior to operating a school vehicle, drivers must be provided with instructions enabling them to comply with alcohol and drug testing requirements.
4. School districts with actual knowledge of a driver's drug use cannot allow the driver to report to or perform a safety sensitive function regardless of whether or not a drug test was conducted.
5. School districts with actual knowledge of a driver with a breath alcohol concentration of 0.02 BAC or greater cannot allow the driver to report to or perform a safety sensitive function regardless of whether or not an alcohol test was conducted.
6. The District is responsible for ensuring that the quality assurance plan, developed by the manufacturer and approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the evidentiary breath testing device used for alcohol testing of its drivers describes the inspection, maintenance and calibration requirements and intervals for it.
7. The District is responsible for ensuring that the collection site person using an evidentiary breath testing device is a certified BAT.
M. Consequences of Violating this Policy, the Supporting Procedures or the Law
1. The assistant-to-the-superintendent may discipline drivers who violate this policy, the supporting procedures or the law relating to alcohol and drug testing. Each incident is dealt with based on the circumstances surrounding the incident. The following consequences may result from a violation:
c. Drivers may be advised of the resources available to them in evaluating and resolving problems associated with the misuse of alcohol or use of drugs;
d. Drivers may be required to be evaluated by a SAP who shall determine what assistance, if any, the driver needs in resolving problems associated with the misuse of alcohol or use of drugs and be required to follow any treatment program;
e. Prior to returning to duty, the driver is required to have a negative drug and/or alcohol test result and be subject to the follow-up drug and/or drug testing determined necessary based on the circumstances surrounding the incident;
f. Drivers refusing to submit to drug and/or alcohol testing are considered insubordinate and are subject to discipline up to and including termination; and/or
g. Applicants for the position of driver who refuse to submit to or cooperate with the drug and/or alcohol testing processes and requirements shall be disqualified from further consideration.
2. Nothing in this policy, the procedures or the law relating to alcohol and drug testing limits or restricts the right of the superintendent to discipline a driver, up to and including termination, for conduct which violates the District's policies and procedures.
N. Alcohol and Drug Testing Records
1. Alcohol and drug testing records are stored in limited access locations separate and apart from the driver's general personnel documents.
2. The records may only be released with the written consent of the driver. Only those records specifically authorized for release may be released. However, the following exceptions apply:
3. Drivers are entitled to make a written request to prompt access to and copies of their alcohol and drug test records without requiring payment of amounts owed for the copying of records other than alcohol and drug testing records. The District may charge for copying these records in accordance with Board policy.
4. The District must maintain the following records of its drug and alcohol misuse prevention and testing programs for the following time periods:
O. Pay for Time Spent Testing.
1. For random testing, the time spent traveling to the collection site, the time spent at the collection site, and the time spent traveling back to the bus yard after the completion of the testing will be paid;
2. For reasonable suspicion testing, time will be paid pursuant to (1) above;
3. For post-accident testing, time will be paid pursuant to (1) above;
4. For pre-employment testing, no time will be paid;
5. For time spent in follow-up testing required by the SAP, no time will be paid; and
6. Drivers will be paid for time spent testing at the pay rate for activity and field trip drivers.
P. Leave
1. If the employee comes forward and admits to a drug and/or alcohol problem and receives help from and follows the requirements of the SAP, the employee is granted "unpaid leave" under the Family and Medical Leave Act and Board policy. The employee will not be penalized for exercising this option. If no immediate [within five (5) working days] help is obtained from a SAP, the employee is subject to termination.
2. If the employee tests positive under the provisions of this policy, he/she cannot perform a safety sensitive function and goes on paid sick leave, subject to the following conditions:
Q. Payment for Services
1. The District pays for all testing services.
2. The District pays for the initial services, not covered by insurance, of the SAP. This applies if the employee comes forward or tests positive. The District also pays for treatment not covered by insurance. The treatment program will be decided upon by the District subject to consultation with the SAP and employee.
3. The employee who makes a request for another lab to test the split sample (usually when the initial drug test is positive) will pay for the test of the split sample.
R. The above payments and leave allowances apply to those who come forward as well as first time offenders. Any driver who becomes a second time offender under this policy, will be subject to immediate termination.
S. Definitions
Accident - an occurrence involving a school vehicle operating on a public road which results in: (a) a fatality, (b) bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident or (c) one or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the vehicle to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other vehicle.
Air blank - a reading by an evidentiary breath testing device (EBT) of ambient air containing non alcohol.
Alcohol - the intoxicating agent in beverage alcohol, ethyl alcohol, or other low molecular weight alcohols including methyl and isopropyl alcohol.
Alcohol concentration (or content) - the alcohol in a volume of breath expressed in terms of grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath as indicated by an evidential breath test under the law.
Alcohol use· the consumption of any beverage, mixture or preparation, including any medication, containing alcohol.
BAC - breath alcohol concentration.
Breath Alcohol Technician (BAT) - an individual who instructs and assists individuals in the alcohol testing process and operates an EBT.
Canceled or invalid test - in drug testing it is a drug test that has been declared invalid by a Medical Review Officer or a specimen that has been rejected for testing by a laboratory. A canceled test is neither a positive nor a negative test. In alcohol testing, it is a test that is deemed to be invalid under the law. It is neither a positive nor a negative test.
Chain of Custody: - procedures to account for the integrity of each urine or blood specimen by tracking its handling and storage from point of specimen collection to final disposition of the specimen. With respect to drug testing, these procedures require that an appropriate drug testing custody form be used from time of collection to receipt by the laboratory and that upon receipt by the laboratory an appropriate laboratory chain of custody account(s) for the sample or samples within the laboratory.
Collection Site - a place where drivers present themselves for the purpose of providing body fluid or a tissue sample to be analyzed for specific drugs or breath alcohol concentration.
Confirmation test - for alcohol testing, it is a second test following an initial test with a result of 0.02 BAC or greater, that provides quantitative data of alcohol concentration. For drug testing, it is a second analytical procedure (GC/MS) to identify the presence of a specific drug of metabolite
that is independent of the initial test and which uses a different technique and chemical principal from that of the initial test in order to ensure reliability and accuracy.
Controlled Substances/Drugs - marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and phencyclidine. Driver - any person who operates a school vehicle. This includes, but is not limited to: fulltime, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent or occasional drivers; leased drivers and independent, owner-operator contractors who are either directly employed by or under lease to the District or who operate a school vehicle at the direction of or with the consent of the District. For the purposes of pre-employment/pre-duty testing only, the term "driver" includes applicants for driver of school vehicle positions.
Initial test (or screening test) - in drug testing, it is an immunoassay screen to eliminate "negative" urine specimens from further consideration. In alcohol testing it is an analytic procedure to determine whether a driver may have a prohibited concentration of alcohol in a breath or saliva specimen.
Medical Review Officer (MRO) - a licensed physician (medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy) responsible for receiving laboratory results generated by an employer's drug testing program who has knowledge of substance abuse disorders and has appropriate medical training to interpret and evaluate an individual's confirmed positive test result together with the individual's medical history and any other relevant bio-medical information.
Non-suspicion-based post-accident testing - testing a driver after a reportable accident if the driver receives a citation for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident and without regard to whether there is any reasonable suspicion of drug usage, reasonable cause to believe the driver has been operating the school vehicle while under the influence of drugs, or reasonable cause to believe the driver was at fault in the accident and drug usage may have been a factor.
Performing a safety sensitive function- a driver is considered to be performing a safety sensitive function during any period in which the driver is actually performing, ready to perform, or immediately available to perform any sensitive functions.
Random Selection Process - when drug tests are unannounced and that every driver has an equal chance of being selected for testing.
Refuse to submit (to an alcohol or drug test) - when a driver (1) fails to provide adequate breath for alcohol testing without a valid medical explanation after he/she has received notice of the requirement for breath testing in accordance with the provisions of this part, (2) fails to provide adequate urine for drug testing without a valid medical explanation after he/she has received notice of the requirement for urine testing in accordance with the provisions of this part, or (3) engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process.
Safety Sensitive Function (SSF) - the period of time commencing when a driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work.
School Vehicle - a vehicle owned, leased, and/or operated at the direction or with the consent of the District which transports sixteen or more persons, including the driver, or weighs over twenty-six thousand pounds and requires the driver to have/possess a commercial driver's license in order to operate the vehicle.
Screening Test Technician (STT) - an individual who instructs and assists drivers in the initial alcohol testing process and operates a non-evidentiary breath testing or saliva testing device.
Split Specimen -- the division of the urine specimen into thirty milliliters in a specimen bottle (the primary sample) and into at least fifteen milliliters in a second specimen bottle (the split sample).
Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)- a licensed physician (medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy), or a licensed or certified psychologist, social worker, employee assistance professional, or addiction counselor (certified by the Iowa Board of Substance Abuse Certification) with knowledge of and clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol and controlled substances-related disorders.