Dispatchers and site managers who run alcohol checks before bus operations cannot look only at whether a test result came in. If a driver is replaced just before departure, a trip is cancelled or replaced, or the vehicle or departure time is changed, a completed mark left on the earlier dispatch can be wrongly linked to the final driver on duty. Especially when the same driver handles several trips in a day, it is hard to tell which check applies using the driver's name alone.
An alcohol check is the task of confirming, before duty, whether a driver has been drinking, following the procedure set by the workplace. Dispatch means assigning a driver to operate a specific vehicle, route, and departure time. The standard for linking the two is not a match of driver names, but confirming that the driver, the specific trip, the check time, and the completion status all agree. When the dispatch changes, you must check again whether the existing link is still valid for the current duty.
Identify the driver's name and the trip together
The same driver may run one trip in the morning and another in the afternoon, or there may be several dispatches on similar routes in the same time slot. If there are also drivers with the same name, the name alone cannot tell you which duty a check was for. If a result confirmed before the morning trip also appears as completed on the afternoon trip screen, the dispatcher can hardly use that completed mark to decide on departure.
It is appropriate to base the completed mark on both the information that identifies the driver and the specific trip. A trip is information that can separate one driver's several duties, such as the combination of a dispatch number the workplace uses, the departure time, and the route. You also need to record what changed in the dispatch, such as a vehicle change, driver change, trip cancellation, or creation of a replacement trip, so you can decide what to recheck afterward.
| Dispatch stage | What to compare together | Status to see on the dispatch screen |
|---|---|---|
| Initial assignment | The scheduled driver and the specific trip | Awaiting alcohol check |
| Check completed | The driver checked, the check time, the trip | Review completion |
| Driver change | The new driver and the changed trip | Awaiting new check |
| Final assignment before departure | The final driver and the final trip list | Current duty and completion status match |
The completion status in the table does not mean detailed test results should be widely shared with dispatchers. The dispatch screen can show only the information needed to decide on departure, such as whether the check for the current duty is completed, pending, or needs rechecking. Having designated staff manage the original records with check times and results, while keeping it traceable which driver and which trip each completed mark is based on, reduces confusion.
When the driver changes, do not apply the earlier completed mark
If the driver is replaced after the alcohol check is done, the existing completed mark must not carry over to the new driver. A check is done before a specific person performs a specific duty, so it cannot be moved to someone else's duty just because it is the same vehicle or route. The operating procedure can include a rule that reclassifies any trip with a driver change as awaiting a check again.
As a hypothetical case, suppose driver A, assigned to a 7 a.m. trip, completed the check and the screen shows it as completed. If A's duty is then switched to driver B but the screen still shows completed, the first fact to confirm is that the completed mark is based on A's check while the final assignee is B. This can be read as meaning the person checked and the person actually on duty are different.
In this case, a possible action is to newly check whether the check for B and that 7 a.m. trip has been completed. The completion criterion is not A's mark left on the screen, but confirmation of a completed status that fits the duty finally assigned to B. Separating observation, interpretation, action, and completion criterion in this case reduces the chance that the problem is hidden simply by leaving the mark on the screen as it is.
When only the vehicle changes and the driver stays the same, the workplace can decide, based on how it operates, which changes count as requiring a recheck. However, if a new trip is created or a change in departure time makes it hard to identify the original dispatch, it is best to confirm again which dispatch the original check was linked to. Rather than judging the meaning of a change from the status on the system screen alone, first determine whether the change kept the existing duty or created a new one.
Pick out changed dispatches separately
When a dispatch is edited, you need to record who changed what and when, so you can see why the completed mark and the final assignment differ. Driver replacements, vehicle replacements, trip cancellations, and the creation of replacement trips all look like dispatch changes on the surface, but the scope of rechecking may differ. Recording the time and content of each change lets you quickly narrow down what to check when a mismatch is found during the pre-departure comparison.
The operating procedure can include a list or alert that gathers dispatches changed after a check was completed. If such a feature is not available, one option is to assign someone to compare the final driver roster with completion statuses before departure. Roles can be split so that the dispatcher reviews the final assignment list and marks trips needing a recheck, and the check staff confirm the original records and linked items for those trips.
In this process, you must not arbitrarily change a past check time to make it look like a check done before the current trip. It is also necessary to distinguish correcting the original check record from correcting the dispatch's link information. Where the test result itself is fine and only the wrongly linked dispatch needs fixing, recording what was changed is what makes later comparison possible.
You also need a rule that, when a trip is cancelled, the completed record for that dispatch is not copied to another trip or another driver. Record the cancellation on the cancelled dispatch, and treat a replacement trip as a new trip to which the set linking procedure applies. This lets you explain the difference between scheduled duties, the number of people actually checked, and cancelled or replaced duties.
Before departure, match the final assignment and completion status
The question to answer in the pre-departure comparison is not "is there a completed mark?" The basis for the decision is "is that completed mark linked to the driver about to depart and the trip as it stands now?" Even if the check was done at the initial assignment, if anything changed afterward, you must look again based on the final assignment.
If the screen shows completed but the original record cannot be found, or the driver in the original record differs from the final dispatched driver, you can set up a flow that compares the cause of the mismatch rather than automatically treating it as completed. This process is not a procedure for repeatedly passing detailed results to several people, but one for finding trips where the final assignment and completion status do not line up. The dispatcher can look at pending, completed, and needs-recheck statuses, while the check staff manage the records that support those statuses.
Article 36 of Korea's Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to identify hazards and risk factors arising from work and to establish and implement improvement measures to reduce the risk. A situation in which a dispatch change can alter who needs to be checked can also be reviewed as a risk factor to identify in the work process. When documenting the linking criteria, setting out what to recheck for each type of change, when the final comparison takes place, and who handles a mismatch once found gives a clear basis for judging whether a completed mark matches the actual duty.
