Client: 20,000-employee school district based in the Southeastern United States Challenge: A school district transportation manager called Health Advocate regarding a bus driver who was suspected of abusing alcohol, potentially putting children at risk. The employer had experienced several employees approaching the transportation manager expressing concerns about a fellow driver. The co-workers stated that they had observed bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and overheard comments from this co-worker about excessive alcohol use.

Solution: To quickly address the situation, the Health Advocate team: Consulted with the manager to create an action plan to confront the bus driver, immediately removed him temporarily from his safety sensitive position and coached the manager to make a formal referral to the Health Advocate Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Spoke with the bus driver immediately, assessed the situation, and scheduled a same-day appointment with a substance abuse professional in the EAP Network Successfully convinced the bus driver to accept help and involved his family with his permission to increase his chances of successful recovery Facilitated appropriate treatment and case management to ensure that the employee was following all treatment recommendations

Results: The bus driver continued to abstain from alcohol and drugs and has achieved 3 years of sobriety at this time. The transportation manager spoke at an EAP Supervisor Training about his positive experience with Health Advocate. He encouraged his peers to make effective referrals minimizing the risk to the school district and promoting proactive intervention. The District held multiple Supervisor EAP Training sessions resulting in a 12% increase in EAP referrals.