Why Drug and Alcohol Compliance Reviews are Critical for Workplace Safety

You always get nervous when you think about drug and alcohol compliance reviews because they can happen at any time. They can catch you off-guard and that surprise element is something that disturbs you a lot. Moreover, you have that feeling at the back of your mind that you might have a few areas in your organization that do not comply with the rules and regulations laid down by the department of transportation. 

This creates a very serious situation for your company. Your workers, employees, associates, and primarily your safety-sensitive position holders are put under the X-ray for something that they are not solely responsible for. Maintaining compliance with these regulations is a collective effort. This is one of the biggest reasons that it is so difficult to maintain it in the first place. And this is exactly why third party administrators exist. They don’t just bring everyone on the same page but take away the burden of dot compliance from your shoulders so that you can perform your core business responsibilities without having to stress about anything else.

Having said that, it is important to understand why drug and alcohol compliance reviews are critical for workplace safety. Let’s discuss this in a little bit of detail:

1. The Core Principle Of Safety Is Upheld

When we talk about workplace safety, the rules and regulations laid down by the federal motor carrier safety administration (FMCSA) and the department of transportation (dot) focus heavily on the well-being of all your employees and also the prevention of accidents, injuries, and fatalities at the workplace. These rules and regulations talk about substance abuse and use within your company. This habit if not curtailed by the owner can lead to impaired judgment and lack of coordination and reaction time among your employees. This eventually leads to accidents, mishaps, and severe injuries which can also result in the death of somebody involved either directly or indirectly in any such instance. So yes, these compliance reviews take into consideration the discipline that you have been following at your workplace regarding the use and abuse of drugs, alcohol, and other controlled substances.

2. The Use Of Heavy Machinery Necessitates Safety Protocols

Let’s just say that you are chilling at home. You want to use marijuana for recreational purposes along with your friends and a few loved ones. This situation is completely safe and because you are in the company of your loved ones, you have somebody to take care of you if your perception or senses are a little impaired for a while. But using any such substances or even a bit of alcohol or drugs at the work, especially when it involves the handling of complex machinery and critical equipment can be fatal in many cases. If you work in an industry where you have to use heavy machinery or perform several other hazardous tasks involving construction, manufacturing, or transportation, the use of these substances can lead to a lapse in judgment and mishandling of such equipment. One wrong move can lead to severe injuries and irreparable damage to the machine, and the work floor, and cause mortal risks to nearby workers as well.

3. Preventing Absenteeism And Decreased Productivity

If you are in the transport sector or even in construction or manufacturing or any other industry that is governed by the US department of transportation, you are there for a purpose. You want to earn a profit. Unless you run a philanthropic or charity organization, you wouldn’t care about making money. But since this is not the case, ensuring drug and alcohol-related compliance at your workplace is one of the most effective and practical ways to reduce employee absenteeism and maintain their productivity at work. Also, if as an employer you suspect that some of your employees are not able to deliver up on their job performance benchmarks as they had agreed upon in their contract or as they had been performing in the past, you can always carry out a drug and alcohol random test at your workplace. Employees who regularly use or abuse drugs or alcohol will be easy to identify because they will most likely struggle with attendance, achieving their deadlines, maintaining workflows, and also keeping healthy relationships with other employees, workers, and associates in the company.

4. Gain The Ability To Manage Human Relations Better

DOT compliance reviews when performed in a timely manner can help you preserve workplace relationships easily. Remember, all your employees and workers who are addicted to using some kind of drugs or probably abusing alcohol at the workplace will eventually end up damaging their work relations and can will increase DOT compliance complaints & this is not good for the productivity of your organization. A few characteristics or traits that they might exhibit over time include:

• Unnecessary aggression 
• Easy irritability 
• Unpredictable behavior 
• Not being able to pay attention 
• Lack of focus 
• Careless attitude 
• Incidents of harassment
• Incidents of discrimination 
• Bad conduct 

These behaviors can be curbed at the right time by performing compliance reviews for workplace safety and identifying individuals who abuse drugs and alcohol at the workplace. You can therefore prevent the creation of a toxic work environment for everybody in your enterprise.

5. Keeping Everyone Healthy And Happy

As an employer, it is your responsibility to keep all your workers, employees, drivers, and safety-sensitive position holders healthy and happy. By conducting these reviews and identifying individuals who use alcohol or controlled substances while at work you can address substance abuse problems on time. This prevents the problem from escalating and getting out of hand. So before any of these can lead to irreparable damage or physical harm to an employee, you can address these issues and stop them in their tracks. It helps you create a positive environment at work and keep everyone away from any bad habits.

Conclusion

Finally, choosing a dot compliance legit group or a third party administrator for your drug and alcohol compliance requirements allows you to follow the most critical legal and regulatory requirements laid down by the federal motor carrier safety administration and the US department of transportation. The third party administrator can help you come up with a pre-employment drug testing program in addition to a random drug testing policy, post-accident drug test, and many other benchmarks and assessment processes that can help you stay compliant without any interruptions.