Environmental Health and Safety

LSUHSC-NO Driver Safety Program Training for Supervisors

Revised: February 8, 2018

Overview

Audience
Training Goals
Purpose of the Driver Safety Program
Regulatory Requirements
Participation
Driver Qualification Process
Moving Violations
Vehicle Accident Reporting
Management's Responsibilities
Benefits and Consequences

Audience

This training is intended for all Deans, Assistant Deans, Department Heads, Directors, Assistant Directors, Business Managers, Assistant Business Managers, and any other positions that supervise other employees.

Goals for Training

The training is designed to ensure management and administration have a sound understanding of the requirements and responsibilities of the driver safety program, including:

The regulatory requirements for a driver safety program.
Who must participate in the program.
The Driver Qualification process.
Management’s role and responsibilities.
Benefits of compliance and consequences of non-compliance with the program.

Purpose of the Driver Safety Program

About 90% of all LSUHSC-NO employees drive on behalf of the university at least occasionally. This represents a significant liability should an employee have an accident.
The Driver Safety Program reduces the University’s liability by allowing only “Qualified” drivers to drive on official state business. “Qualified” drivers are those personnel who have completed defensive driver training, have liability insurance coverage required by law, and have had their official driving record checked annually to ensure they are low risk drivers.

Regulatory Requirements

Background

The Office of Risk Management (ORM) requires all state agencies (including all state universities) to have a driver safety program in place.
Only employees (to include students who are also employed by LSUHSC) are permitted to drive on official state business per ORM regulations.
A sound Driver Safety Program can help reduce the financial contribution LSUHSC-NO must make to ORM’s insurance risk pool.

Students

Although students are not covered under ORM’s driver safety regulations, there are occasions when students may drive to LSUHSC-sponsored educational events.
Per PM-4, Trips covered by Student Travel Accident Insurance, such travel must be covered by the University’s trip travel accident insurance policy for all university sponsored events and whenever a University faculty or staff member controls the time, route, and mode of travel.
Faculty and staff must submit a request for coverage for trip travel insurance to the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance prior to such trips.

Driving on State Business

Driving on behalf of the University or “driving on state business” includes:

Driving between campuses (e.g., from the School of Dentistry campus to the Downtown campus).
Driving to a meeting off campus.
Renting a car while attending a conference or meeting.
Running work-related errands (e.g., driving to pick up supplies).
Driving from campus to a hospital or clinic, etc.

It Doesn't Matter If:

The employee is reimbursed for mileage.
A state vehicle, rental car or the employee’s personal vehicle is used.

What Does Matter:

Could the State of Louisiana be sued by an injured party if this employee had an accident while driving?

Participation

In accordance with the Qualification Policy, it is presumed that all LSUHSC-NO positions require employees to travel at least occasionally in the performance of their duties and therefore must complete the driver qualification process, unless specifically excluded by their supervisor.
The supervisor may exclude an employee from participation in the Driver Safety Program if that employee’s duties never involve driving a vehicle.
In order to exclude an employee who does not drive on state business from the driver safety requirements, the supervisor must submit a “Do Not Drive Statement” (found in the Qualification Policy) via email to Kelly Guth, Compliance Educator (kguth@lsuhsc.edu).
Department Heads may NOT exclude themselves from Program participation. This can only be done by their immediate supervisor.

Driver Qualification Process

Becoming Qualified to Drive takes Three Steps:

Step 1: Driver Education (DRED)

Complete DRED training (automatically assigned to all employees).
Current employees must repeat DRED training every three years.
Any employee who has had a moving violation in the past year must complete Remedial DRED training within 90 days of notification.
The training system (KDS) will send reminders for any training that is due.

Step 2: DA 2054 Driver Authorization Form

All new employees are required to electronically complete, sign and submit a Driver Authorization Form (DA-2054). The form contains a statement affirming that the employee has and will maintain State required minimum liability insurance coverage on the vehicle they will be driving on official University business.

Step 3: Official Driving Record (ODR) Checks

Louisiana Drivers Licenses:

EH&S obtains a copy of new employee’s ODR from the State of Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles and validates that the employee is a low risk driver.
EH&S checks ODRs for Qualified drivers on an annual basis.

Out of State Driver’s License holders:

EH&S does not have the capability to request ODR information from agencies outside Louisiana.
The employee must contact the driver license authority in the state where he/she received the license to obtain a certified copy of their ODR at their own expense. (Note: A copy of an ODR that is not certified, such as those issued by a private company's web site, are NOT acceptable.)
The ODR must be sent to EH&S.
Requirements are the same as those for in-state ODR checks.
The employee must obtain a new ODR annually from the state where their license was issued and forward it to EH&S.

Employees with three or more moving violations or a conviction or nolo contendere plea for DWI, hit and run driving, vehicular negligent injury, reckless operation of a vehicle, or similar violation are considered high risk drivers and are not authorized to drive on behalf of the university.

Notification that Employee is Qualified to Drive

When all three steps are complete, the employee will receive an email from EH&S with notification that the employee is “Qualified” to drive. The employee shall provide a copy of this email to his/her supervisor.
For those with Louisiana drivers licenses, this Qualification remains in effect as long as the employee completes Driver Education training every three years and maintains a clean driving record. EH&S checks their ODR annually.
Out of State driver’s license holders must have a certified copy of their ODR sent to EH&S annually in order to maintain qualification. Upon receipt and review of the ODR, EH&S will send an email to the employee notifying the employee that they are Qualified to drive for the next 12 months.
Note that if an employee becomes designated as high risk or requires remedial training, the employee and supervisor will be notified by email.

Driver Qualification Process Summary

In order for Employees to be Qualified to drive on behalf of the university:

They must have a valid driver’s license.
They must not be excluded from the Driver Safety Program.
They must be up-to-date on all assigned DRED training.
They must have a signed DA-2054 form on file in EH&S.
EH&S must have checked their Official Driving Record (ODR) within the past year.
They must not be a high risk driver.

More details on the Driver Qualification Process can be found on the EH&S website.

Moving Violations

Employees are required to immediately report any moving violation(s) or revocation of their driver’s license to their supervisor, but no later than the next scheduled work day. The supervisor will then notify EH&S at jwrig9@lsuhsc.edu. Reporting applies whether on state, or personal/private business, and whether in a state, personal, or rental vehicle. “Moving violations” require the completion of remedial driver safety training within 90 days of the violation to maintain “Qualified” driver status.
“High Risk” violations will result in a minimum 12 month suspension of authorization to drive on official University business. EH&S will notify the individual and their department head or designated official if they require remedial training or are considered “High Risk”.
See the High Risk Driver Policy for instructions on early reinstatement of driving privileges for operational reasons.

Vehicle Accident Reporting

A vehicular accident is defined as any incident in which the vehicle comes in contact with another vehicle, person, object, or animal that results in death, personal injury, or property damage, regardless of: who was injured, what was damaged or to what extent, where it occurred, or who was responsible.

In the event of accident, we are required to send documentation to the Louisiana Office of Risk Management within 48 hours of the accident (weekends included).

Call the local Police to report the accident and obtain a traffic accident report when available. If the accident involves an LSUHSC-owned vehicle, occurred on LSUHSC grounds, or involved an injury or death, notify University Police at 568-8999 or 568-8270.

Complete and submit an on-line fillable DA 2041 form within 48 hours, weekends included (e.g., if the accident occurs at 4:00 P.M. on a Friday, you must submit the DA 2041 by 4:00 P.M. on Sunday). Alternatively, to expedite submittal if the DA 2041 form has been completed by hand, it may be scanned and emailed to DA2041@lsuhsc.edu and 6410StateofLouisiana@sedgwickcms.com.

Include a copy of the local police traffic accident report with the DA 2041 submission. However, if the local police traffic accident report is not immediately available, submit the DA 2041 without it and follow-up later when received. Due to the time constraints on reporting, the DA 2041 can be submitted by either the employee or the supervisor.

To facilitate timely completion of the DA 2041, keep a hardcopy of the Vehicle Accident Reporting Quick Guide in your vehicle.

Completion of the DA 2000 form is not required for vehicle accidents.

Failure of a qualified driver to report any vehicular accident may be cause for suspension of Driver Authorization

The supervisor may consider what corrective action(s) may be necessary for accidents.

These requirements must be met whether the vehicle is government, personal or rental.

Management’s Responsibilities

Reviewing Employees' Qualified to Drive Status

At recurring intervals, school and department leadership and/or business managers receive reports from Environmental Health and Safety on the Qulified to Drive status of each of their employees. See the following example. These reports are broken down into three categories:

Personnel who are fully qualified to drive.
Personnel who are authorized to drive but who have not completed all the steps required to be fully qualified to drive. These individuals are not allowed to drive on official university business until all steps in the qulifying process have been completed.
Personnel not authorized to drive. These individuals were placed in this category primarily at the request of their supervisor. However, some individuals are in this category because they meet the criteria of a high risk driver (e.g. suspended license, two or more moving violations, DWI, etc.) which prohibits them from driving on official university business.

Note that Qualified to Drive status reports for School of Medicine Residents and Fellows are provided directly to the Office of Graduate Medical Education. Resident Coordinators will then work to ensure compliance.

Know the status of your employees and ensure only those qualified to drive are permitted to drive on official university business.

Contact Jenna Wright at jwrig9@lsuhsc.edu or 568-4500 if you have any questions.

Travel and Accidents

Before approving any travel involving driving an automobile, validate that the person requesting travel is Qualified to drive under the Driver Safety Program.

Ensure that any and all accidents that occur while conducting university business are reported promptly (within 48 hours).

Benefits of the Program

Employees who comply with the Driver Safety Program receive the following benefits:

Upon completion of DRED training, the employee may print their Certificate of Completion. Simply go to the KDS site and access your certificate under the "My Documents" tab. Note that you must be current with all KDS training requirements to gain access to the Certificate. Many insurance companies offer rate discounts for completing a defensive driver training course.
In the event of an accident while driving on university business in a personal vehicle:

ORM will cover damages above the limits of the employee’s policy.
ORM will cover the deductible up to $1000.

Consequences

If an Employee fails to comply with the University’s Driver Safety Program:

They will not be allowed to drive on university business under any circumstances.
If, in spite of this, they drive on state business, they will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. If they are in an accident, they can find themselves solely responsible for any damages or injuries that may result from the accident.

A Manager or Supervisor who knowingly allows an employee to drive on university business in violation of the Driver Safety Program:

Will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
In the event of an accident, may be held personally liable for damages to the injured party.