What Drug and Alcohol Training Does FTA Require for Transit Employers?

Under 49 CFR 655.14, each employer covered by Federal Transit Administration (FTA) drug and alcohol rules establishes an education and training program for all covered employees. The program has an education part and a training part, with separate minimums for covered employees and for the people who make reasonable suspicion determinations.

Under 655.14(a), education includes display and distribution to every covered employee of informational material and a community service hot-line telephone number for employee assistance, if available.

Under 655.14(b), the training minimums are:

• Covered employees receive at least 60 minutes on the effects and consequences of prohibited drug use on personal health, safety and the work environment, and on the signs and symptoms that may indicate prohibited drug use
• Supervisors and other company officers authorized to make reasonable suspicion determinations receive at least 60 minutes on the physical, behavioral and performance indicators of probable drug use
• The same supervisors and officers receive at least 60 minutes on the physical, behavioral, speech and performance indicators of probable alcohol misuse

The covered employee minimum in 655.14(b)(1) addresses prohibited drug use, and 655.14 does not mention recurrent training. Recurrent training rules across DOT agencies are compared in Is Recurrent Reasonable Suspicion Training Required for DOT Supervisors?, and the FMCSA rule for supervisors of CDL drivers is covered in What Is Reasonable Suspicion Testing for CDL Drivers?.

Learn Laws® offers DOT Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors, a two-hour online course for supervisors of DOT safety-sensitive employees on spotting drug and alcohol signs and ordering reasonable suspicion tests.

Drug-Free Workplace Training for Employees is listed on a handful of trainer profiles in the MyDrugTesting.com directory.