April 2019 - Safety Sensitive Jobs

Safety Sensitive Employees and drug testing in the workplace:

The definition of safety-sensitive is based upon the specific job duties assigned to a position. The focus should be on the potential threat posed by an employee who is under the influence in the event they make a mistake or fail to perform their duties because of the influence of the drug/alcohol. The Supreme Court has indicated that a safety sensitive position is one in which the duties involve "such a great risk of injury to others that even a momentary lapse of attention can have disastrous consequences." The fact that an employee drives a city vehicle is not in and of itself enough to classify the position as safety-sensitive. Is driving on a regular basis a primary function of the employee's duties? If so, then that gets them closer to a safety sensitive classification. If they just happen to drive occasionally and driving is not part of their regular, primary duties, then they would likely not be designated as safety sensitive.