Reasonable Cause Drug Testing Services

Quick confirmation or disproval of what’s observed.

Reasonable cause testing is done to eliminate the possibility of current substance use being the cause of observed behaviours that lead a supervisor to believe the employee is not fit to perform duties and maintain workplace safety. Supervisors in your organization are trained to observe signs that employees may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and when these signs are noticed, can request the appropriate tests for alcohol and drugs.

Learn about supervisor training and the role of supervisors in dealing with employees under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Mandatory Drug Testing in the Workplace Canada for Reasonable Cause

Employers can request drug or alcohol testing for safety-sensitive positions in four different circumstances. For reasonable cause, pre-employment testing, post-incident testing, and for random drug testing. However, there are several requirements and restrictions that exist for drug and alcohol testing in these types of situations.

A safety-sensitive position can include a position where a worker’s incapacity due to impairment on the job could directly injure workers or others that are in the same work area.

How Reasonable Cause Testing Works

• Trained management personnel or supervisors in your company observe that the current state of the employee suggests that the employee may be using drugs or alcohol and is posing a safety risk.
• Testing for the employee is started as soon as possible.
• Proper documentation is completed, outlining the reasons a workplace drug test was requested by the employer.

Employees who are being tested based on reasonable cause or reasonable suspicion of substance abuse should always be safely escorted to the collection facility by a supervisor.

Test right.

Our training programs help your organization make sure that reasonable cause drug testing programs are conducted to meet policy guidelines and required timelines while also providing accurate test results that help to reduce workplace accidents.

Employers should conduct drug testing when there is reasonable cause to suspect impairment on the job, which would be considered a company policy breach. It is helpful to prepare a reasonable suspicion observation checklist for-cause drug testing when the following criteria is met:

• An employee is showing signs that “sufficiently arouse the employer’s suspicion of impairment,” 
• The suspicion should be from an objective measure of the employer’s subjective view of the employee. 
• Suspicion may come in the form of actions, behaviour, or physical characteristics that give rise to impairment.

Employers should determine what is considered to be a health and safety policy breach in their company’s drug and alcohol policy. Additionally, their drug and alcohol policy should specify if an additional drug test is required for the employee to return to work after testing positive.

Contact us today to arrange for supervisor training or reasonable cause drug testing in Canada.

If you need to book reasonable cause testing immediately, please call 1.800.440.0023, and select option 3.