If there is reason to suspect that an employee is under the influence, be sure to document everything thoroughly. You’ll need to take note of your direct observations. Be sure to include appearance, odor, behavior, and any work performance issues that support reasonable suspicion testing. Without the proper procedures and policies in place, your company could be at risk for legal and financial penalties.

It is common for employers to just report the requested test as a “random” test. If you go this route, you are opening the door for legal liabilities. While it is possible to order random testing, it’s not the appropriate option for reasonable suspicion and can lead to legal issues.

The provision can be difficult to define and execute. Blueline Services provides employers and management teams in-depth training to help with recognizing impairment and executing the provision. Being able to recognize impairment and properly ordering reasonable suspicion tests is critical for your organization to avoid any legal issues.

Additional training is available to help you create a detailed Workplace Drug and Alcohol Policy that includes an in-depth reasonable suspicion provision. Reach out to us at Blueline Services today to get started.

The post Why a Reasonable Suspicion Policy is Important appeared first on Blueline.

We thought that these statistics might be useful to consider as you strive to make or update your own workplace drug policies.

This NSC survey was taken by over 500 individuals that make decisions about workplace drug and alcohol programs for their companies. While 86% of the respondents agreed that opioids (even while taken as prescribed) impact job performance, only half (50%) of respondents felt confident about their company’s substance abuse policies and procedures.

Some other interesting statistics from the survey included:

-75% of employers have been directly affected by opioid use
-79% of employers are not very confident that individual employees can spot warning signs of opioid misuse
-One-third of employers have experienced an overdose, arrest, or injury/near-miss
-38% of employers have experienced absenteeism or impaired worker performance
–Despite widespread impact, only 17% of employers feel extremely well prepared to deal with this issue

Nick Smith, interim president and CEO of NSC said, “The opioid crisis is truly encompassing nearly every aspect of American lives. Today’s survey confirms that the No. 1 cause of preventable death is not just taking its toll on our home lives but companies across the country are also grappling with the impact of this epidemic.”

If you have questions about reasonable suspicion training or how you can help get your supervisors trained to handle drug and alcohol abuse within the workplace, please contact us! We’ll help you get it figured out. All Blueline Service clients have access to our FREE reasonable suspicion training materials.

You can contact our drug testing department at mail@blueline-services.com. Please feel free to take a look at NSC’s drug use guide as well here.

The post Employers Speak Up About Illicit Opioid Use At Work appeared first on Blueline.