(a) Any Town employee who is required to drive a Town vehicle which meets the federal regulations to be considered heavy equipment or is in a "safety sensitive" position will be required to maintain a commercial driver's license (CDL). These employees will be required to participate in St. John's drug and alcohol testing program as mandated by the Department of Transportation.

(b) If the employee is required by the Town to maintain a CDL as a condition of employment, the Town will pay for CDL physicals and CDL license renewal. The Town will also pay for the initial test. The cost of retesting due to failure is the employee's responsibility.

(c) The goals of the Town's drug and alcohol testing policy are to insure a drug- and alcohol-free work environment, and to reduce and help eliminate drug- and alcohol-related accidents, fatalities, and damage to property.

(d) Under the Town's policy, drug and alcohol testing will be conducted on any current and/or prospective driver who may be required to operate a motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds in interstate or intrastate commerce, and on any driver of a motor vehicle that is used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity which requires the vehicle to be placarded regardless of the vehicle's size.

(e) All applicants for positions with the Town which will include driving Town equipment, and which meet the above requirements, will be notified of the Town's drug and alcohol use and testing policy at the time they apply. They will be required to pass an alcohol and drug test before becoming employed by the Town.

(f) A CDL driver must maintain his/her CDL license status or he/she may be terminated.

(g) Post-accident testing. An employee who is required to take a post-accident drug and alcohol test will, at the Town's discretion, either be assigned to a position which does not require driving Town vehicles or placed on nondisciplinary suspension with pay while awaiting the post-accident test results.

An employee who tests positive for drugs and/or alcohol, or who refuses or fails to submit to a post-accident drug and alcohol test will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

(h) Random drug testing. The Town is required to test CDL employees and employees in "safety sensitive" positions (as defined by the Department of Transportation) on a random basis, and all such tests will be unannounced. Every employee will have an equal chance of being selected every time the selection is conducted. Appropriate safeguards are also present to ensure that the identity of the individual drivers cannot be determined before or at the time of their selection. When a driver is randomly selected to be tested, he/she will be notified and instructed to report to the collection site immediately.

An employee who tests positive for drugs and/or alcohol, or who refuses or fails to submit to a random drug and/or alcohol test, will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

(i) Reasonable suspicion testing. Each CDL and safety sensitive employee is required to submit to a drug and alcohol test whenever the Town has reasonable suspicion to believe that the driver has used drugs and/or alcohol in violation of DOT regulations and/or this policy.

Reasonable suspicion will exist when an employee's appearance, behavior, speech, or body odors indicate drug or alcohol use, or the withdrawal effects of drugs. Such observations must be personally observed and documented by at least one (1) Town official who has received training covering the physical, behavioral, speech, and performance indicators of probable drug and alcohol use. (If the trained individual is not available, the supervisor who observes the impairment will use his/her best judgment to determine whether a test is necessary.)

An employee who is required to submit to a reasonable suspicion test will be escorted by his/her supervisor to the appropriate specimen collection site for the drug and alcohol test.

The supervisor will arrange the transportation of the employee home at the completion of the test.

An employee who is required to take a reasonable suspicion test will be considered by the Town as unqualified to work and placed on immediate suspension, with pay, pending the results of the test. An employee whose test results are positive will be subject to disciplinary action.

An employee who tests positive for drugs and/or alcohol, or who refuses or fails to submit to a reasonable cause drug and alcohol test will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.