Transportation employees of DOT-regulated employers who perform tasks that have been defined as "safety-sensitive" are subject to drug and alcohol testing. This includes "reasonable suspicion" testing, which is required when a properly trained supervisor suspects that an employee is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs based on the employee's appearance, behavior, speech, or smell. Supervisors and company officials who may need to make a "reasonable suspicion" test determination are required to complete at least 1 hour of training on the signs and symptoms of DOT-prohibited drug use. This course describes the five DOT-regulated drug classes, including their signs and symptoms of use, the types of observations that can be used for reasonable suspicion drug test determinations, and what happens during a reasonable suspicion interview, specimen collection, and drug testing.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Describe the five DOT-regulated drug classes, including their signs and symptoms of use
- Decide what types of observations can be used for reasonable suspicion drug test determinations
- Decide what types of observations cannot be used for reasonable suspicion test determinations but do warrant increased observation
- Describe what happens during a reasonable suspicion interview, specimen collection, and drug testing
- Describe the consequences of positive, negative, adulterated, and substituted drug test results