PPM Section 380-22

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Policy and Procedure Manual

Chapter 380, Personnel--General
Section 22, Drug and Alcohol Testing of Drivers
Approved: 6/9/03
Supersedes: 2/10/97

Responsible Department: Employee Health Services
Source Document: U.S. Code Title 49, Section 31306, Alcohol and Controlled Substance Testing

I. Purpose and Scope

Federal law protects the public by requiring that transportation employees be tested for the use of alcohol and drugs. This section summarizes the law and how it is applied at UCD. More information can be found in the sections of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 49, cited in brackets. Unitrans employees are covered by separate federal law and Unitrans policy.

II. Definitions

A. Transportation employee--an employee, regardless of job title, who operates a vehicle that:

1. Has a gross combined weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, or

2. Has 16 or more seats.

Job applicants and occasional drivers are included. UCD fire and hazardous materials vehicles are excluded. [382.103, 382.107]

B. Safety-sensitive function--all on-duty time that a transportation employee spends driving, available or waiting to drive, or working in or near a vehicle described in II.A above. [382.107] All of a transportation employee's hours of work are considered a safety-sensitive function unless the employee has been restricted to non-safety-sensitive duties.

C. Drugs--illegal drugs and prescription and non-prescription drugs that can affect the ability to drive.

D. Employee Health Services--the campus employee health department serves both campus and UCDHS needs for this program.

E. Medical Review Officer (MRO)--a physician who has been retained by UCD and who meets the Department of Transportation requirements.

F. Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)--a consultant who has been retained by UCD and meets the Department of Transportation requirements. [40.281]

III. Policy

A. A transportation employee shall not:

1. Report for or remain on duty with an alcohol level of 0.04 or more. [382.201]

2. Use alcohol while on duty. [382.205]

3. Use alcohol for 4 hours prior to coming on duty. [382.207]

4. Use alcohol after an accident, if a post-accident test is required and has not been completed. [382.209]

5. Report for duty or remain on duty when the driver uses or tests positive for drugs. If the employee takes a drug that could affect the ability to drive, the employee shall notify his or her supervisor as soon as possible. The employee's physician shall send a description of the drug and its effect on the ability to drive to Employee Health Services. [382.213, 382.215]

6. Refuse to take any test required by this policy. [382.211]

B. An employee who violates the above rules:

1. Shall be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal, as described in applicable personnel policy or collective bargaining agreement.

2. Shall not return to duty until a test indicates an alcohol level of less than 0.02 for an alcohol violation, or a negative result on a drug test for a drug violation. [382.501, 40.305]

3. Shall be evaluated by a SAP, complete the SAP-prescribed course of treatment, and pay the treatment costs. The employee shall not resume safety-sensitive functions until the SAP certifies the treatment is complete. [40.285, 40.289, 382.503]

4. Shall take follow-up tests as described in III.E.6 below.

C. A transportation employee whose alcohol test results are at least 0.02 but less than 0.04 shall not return to duty until his or her next shift, nor less than 24 hours after the test. [382.505]

D. No employee shall begin to perform safety-sensitive duties at UCD until:

1. The supervisor has given the employee the training materials required by law. [382.601]

2. The employee has successfully completed the pre-employment drug test.

3. Employee Health Services has put the employee in the random testing pool.

4. The department has requested the records of prior transportation employers for the past 2 years. The employee may work for up to 30 days while awaiting a response. [40.25] A form for this purpose is available on the web at http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Forms.

E. A transportation employee shall be tested for drugs and alcohol as follows.

1. Before employment. Each newly hired or transferred transportation employee must be tested for drugs before the first time a safety-sensitive function is performed. [382.301] The testing can be done before the employee is hired. The employment offer shall be made contingent on a negative test result.

2. After an accident. An employee who is involved in an accident while driving a commercial motor vehicle shall be tested for alcohol and drugs as soon as possible, if the accident involved the loss of life or the driver received a citation within 8 hours of the accident. The driver must remain available for testing or be deemed to have refused testing. Tests by the police meet this requirement if the University can obtain the results. [382.303]

3. Random testing. The law requires UCD to test a certain percentage of transportation employees for alcohol and drugs. An employee may be selected more than once per year. Employee Health Services and a contractor keep the pool of names, do the selection, and tell the department when an employee is selected. The employee must go to the test site as soon as he or she is notified. [382.305]

4. Reasonable suspicion. A supervisor who has reasonable suspicion that an employee has violated the provisions of III.A above shall immediately remove the employee from duty, contact Employee Health Services to arrange a test, and have the employee escorted to the testing site. [382.307] No supervisor having actual knowledge of a violation shall allow an employee he or she supervises to perform a safety-sensitive function.

5. Return to duty. See III.B.2 above.

6. Follow-up testing. An employee who has tested positive must take at least 6 unannounced tests for drugs and alcohol in the year following return to duty. Testing may continue for an additional 48 months. The employee shall pay the cost of the tests. [40.307]

F. If a driver who is not employed by UC is used more than once a year for safety-sensitive functions, UC must either test the driver under this program or verify every 6 months that the driver is being tested elsewhere. [382.301]

G. Information about employees participating in this program shall only be released when required by law or this policy. All program records shall be kept in secure locations. Test results shall be verified by the MRO before they are given to anyone else. [382.401, 382.405, 40.123]

H. The costs of testing are recharged to departments except as described in III.E.6 above.

I. Federal law requires that most records be kept for 5 years. [382.401]

J. Alcohol tests shall only be conducted just before, just after, or while the employee is performing a safety-sensitive function. [382.305, 382.307]

K. Supervisors of transportation employees must have at least 60 minutes of training on alcohol misuse plus 60 minutes of training on drug abuse. [382.603] The training legally qualifies a supervisor to determine if reasonable suspicion exists to require the testing described in III.E.4 above. Training videotapes are available from Employee Health Services.

IV. Procedure

A. Testing procedure

Responsibility	Action
Supervisor	1. Calls Employee Health Services for pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, or post-accident testing. OR
Contractor	2. Tells Employee Health Services when an employee is selected for random testing.
Employee Health Services	3. Faxes a Clinic Passport to the supervisor. This document gives instructions and the location of the test site.
Supervisor	4. Random drug testing: Contacts employee right away (or as soon as employee comes on duty). OR Random alcohol testing: Contacts the employee if the employee is performing, about to perform, or has just performed a safety-sensitive function. 5. If these conditions do not exist or workload does not permit the employee to be away, the supervisor calls Employee Health. Employee Health may allow more time or select an alternate. 6. Sends the employee to the test site. For reasonable suspicion or post-accident tests, escorts the employee to the test site.
Employee	7. Takes the Clinic Passport to the test site and is tested. 8. Reports to supervisor as soon as the test is done. Gives the Clinic Passport receipt to the supervisor.

B. Handling of test results

Responsibility	Action
Medical Review Officer (MRO)	1. Receives results from the test site. 2. Verifies lab results: a. Tells the employee if the test is positive. Accepts employee's response. Employee has 72 hours to ask for retest of a split sample. b. Reviews and interprets each positive test result. c. Classifies results as "verified positive" or "negative." 3. Notifies Employee Health of all verified test results.
Employee Health	4. Reports negative test results to the supervisor.
Supervisor	5. Notifies the employee of negative test results.
Employee Health	6. Reports verified positive tests to the supervisor and to campus or UCDHS Employee & Labor Relations.

C. Verified positive results

Responsibility	Action
Supervisor	1. Immediately removes the employee from all safety-sensitive functions. 2. Considers corrective action under the applicable personnel policy or collective bargaining agreement, after consulting with Employee & Labor Relations.
Medical Review Officer	3. Refers the employee to a SAP.
Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)	4. Performs an initial evaluation to determine the level of treatment. 5. Confers with supervisor on recommended treatment and possible reasonable accommodations.
Supervisor	6. Confers with Employee & Labor Relations regarding reasonable accommodations. See Section 380-18, III.C, Substance Abuse. 7. Takes appropriate corrective action.
SAP	8. For dismissal, provides information on resources or treatment and recovery to employee. 9. If there is no dismissal, refers the employee for treatment. 10. Monitors the treatment program.
Employee	11. Completes the treatment program.
SAP	12. If the employee completes treatment successfully, consults with MRO. Sets a follow-up test schedule. Tells Employee Health the employee is eligible to return to work.
Employee Health	13. Gives the department the SAP findings. The department determines the job assignment. 14. Schedules a return to work test. 15. Initiates follow-up tests.

V. Further Information

For information and help, call Employee Health Services at 530-757-3249, or Employee & Labor Relations at 530-752-0530 (campus) or 916-734-3362 (UCDHS).

VI. References and Related Policy

A. Alcohol and Controlled Substances Testing, United States Code, Title 49, Section 31306.

B. Department of Transportation Procedures, Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Parts 40 and 382.

C. UCD Policy & Procedure Manual Section 380-18, Substance Abuse.

D. Employee Health Services Department of Transportation Program.