(October
2001)
New Drug & Alcohol Testing Rules
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August 1, 2001
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Safety-sensitive employees in
the transportation industry.
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U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has implemented
several changes in drug and alcohol testing regulations that
impact employees such as bus drivers, commercial drivers, railroad
workers, airline mechanics and flight crews. The revised rules
apply to approximately seven million employees covered under
the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Railroad Administration,
Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration
and Research and Special Programs Administration. |
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The
most important changes in the DOT rules involve validity testing,
which is designed to detect samples that have been tampered
with or substituted. To ensure fairness to employees, when
a lab suspects that a sample has been adulterated, an employer-paid
physician must review the test results to determine whether
there is a legitimate medical reason that would account fot
the positive result. An employee may also have a sample retested
by a different lab.
The major changes in the rules include:
- A
requirement that employers obtain drug and alcohol test results
from an applicant’s previous employers for the past
two years;
- Mandatory
validity testing for all specimens;
- Options
for temporarily removing employees from safety-sensitive
duties before final verification of a positive, adulterated
or substituted laboratory test result;
- A
requirement that service agents (such as labs, technicians,
and medical review officers) who fail or refuse to comply
with the rules may be temporarily barred from providing drug
testing services to DOT-covered employers.
- Enhanced
training requirements for collectors, technicians, medical
review officers and substance abuse professionals;
- Changes
in specimen collection procedures and laboratory processes;
- New
forms;
- Education
and/or treatment for all applicants who have positive test
results or refuse to test;
- Greater
use of electronic means of transmitting and storing data;
- Specific
requirements for releasing information to employees and third
parties.
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Employers
who are required to comply with the DOT’s drug and alcohol
regulations should review their policies to ensure that they
fully comply with the new rules. Most importantly, employers
should check to make sure that their policies are actually
being followed; many companies have adopted great policies
and then disregard them. You should also contact your testing
lab, your SAP and other “service agents” and ask
for information that would show whether or not they are in
compliance with the new regulations. The full text of the rules
is available at www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/main/CFRintro.htm
This
material is a general overview of the subject matter, and
is not meant to provide professional opinions regarding any
specific case, matter, or set of facts, or to substitute
for the professional advice of Waag and Co. Instead, please
contact Susan S. Waag, Esq. for additional information. Use
of this information is allowed, provided that credit is given
to: Susan S. Waag, attorney; Waag and Co.; September 2001
Employer Bulletin; INFO@WaagandCo.com;
(805) 783-2300
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