According to the latest figures published by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), companies in the United States of America lose in excess of $100 billion each and every year as a direct result of the abuse of illicit substances. In addition to financial loss, the use of these types of substances can have a detrimental impact on employees, which directly impacts their ability to do their job and their safety while doing so. However, by ensuring reasonable suspicion training for supervisors, the impact of substance abuse amongst employees can be significantly reduced.
Although drug screening prior to employment and random drug testing for employees can be effective in ensuring that a workplace remains drug-free, it will still likely be the case that an employee will need to be confronted in the workplace for seeming to appear to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Being able to handle this in the correct way is beneficial to the overall safety and health of the entire workforce. This is why it is so important for supervisors to know all of the rules and regulations relating to reasonable suspicion drug testing inside and out.
What constitutes reasonable suspicion?
If there is found to be evidence or a supervisor sees any visible signs of impairment from an employee then they have reasonable suspicion. However, it is important that they are aware that certain medical issues can also cause someone to appear impaired. Where this is the case and the employee is tested for drugs and alcohol and a negative test is returned, appropriate medical attention can be sought.
What are the signs of illicit substance abuse?
There are a number of clear and presentable signs of substance abuse. The more that a supervisor knows their employees, the better they will become at realizing when something is not quite right with one of them. Some of the most common indicators include the following things:
- Withdrawal behavior
- Physical evidence of use of illicit substances
- Theft, borrowing money, and/or damage to the company’s property
- Abnormal and/or erratic behavior
- Changes in personality
- Confusion and / or disorientation
- Not being able to complete everyday tasks
- Struggling to stay awake
- Unexplained breaks and/or poor attendance
- Poor attention to grooming and/or personal hygiene
What should a supervisor do if they suspect substance abuse in the workplace?
Prior to going down the route of sending an employee for a drug test, there are a number of steps that a supervisor must first take. These include the following things:
- Observe – in order to be able to demand that an employee partakes in drug testing within the workplace, a supervisor must be able to smell and/or see clear signs of impairment. It must be them who experience this on a first-hand basis – the evidence cannot come from someone else. Drug testing can only be performed based on a current occurrence and not on something that has happened in the past. That being said, when documenting the incident, previous observations can be mentioned.
- Confirm – where an employee who is a safety sensor is showing clear and visible signs of being under the influence of an illicit substance/substances, then this needs to be confirmed by another supervisor or member of staff who is correctly trained in the subject of reasonable suspicion. In those instances where this cannot be done, then it is important that the supervisor draws the correct conclusion about the suspicion of the employee. The worker should then be removed from performing their job straight away. Even if the employee is not involved in an activity that is safety-sensitive, such as using machinery or driving, then it is still recommended that they are removed from their position right away, until the cause for suspicion is determined.
- Document – careful note-taking must be made due to the discretionary nature of this type of incident and reasonable suspicion. As part of this, state when and where observations were made and what the evidence was. This creates a good level of defense should the event, unfortunately, escalate into a full-blown lawsuit. For example, if it states that the employee was angry, detail exactly what signs of anger they were showing, e.g. a raised voice, a flushed complexion, etc. Providing as much detail as possible is the key here.
- Confront – with discretion in the front of mind, speak with the employee and get them to meet with the supervisor in a private meeting room or somewhere similar – away from the eyes and ears of their colleagues. In an objective and calm manner, explain to the employee what has been observed and then provide them with the opportunity to respond. It is important, throughout this process, to fully respect the privacy and dignity of the worker. Supervisors must stay objective at all times and keep their emotions in check. It should be explained to them that it may be necessary to perform a medical examination in order to address the suspicion that has arisen and that a drug test is required so that substance abuse can be ruled out.
Once all of these steps have been taken, the employee should be taken for a drug test. Before this happens though, it should be explained to them what exactly is going to happen. Under no circumstance should the worker be allowed to drive to the location of the testing center – it should be the supervisor that drives them there. Alcohol can be detected in someone’s system as quickly as eight hours after it has been consumed and within 24 to 32 hours for drugs. This is why testing needs to be done as soon as there is reasonable suspicion to do so. An employee should not be allowed to go back to their duties during the period while they are waiting for the results to come back. Depending on the result, different courses of action will need to be taken.
