6 Reasons

SIX REASONS TO TEST

These are the six reasons to test in a DOT program for drugs and/or alcohol: Number 1: Pre-Employment Testing (pre-employment alcohol tests are not required for DOT purposes) This test should be done and be resulted as negative before the employee starts a DOT safety-sensitive duty. It is highly recommended that you perform all pre-employment tests and receive the results BEFORE the employee starts working at all. This makes things much less complicated in the event of a positive test result. It is much easier to pull a contingent job offer than it is to terminate an employee.

Number 2: Post-Accident Testing Post-accident tests are done when an employee is involved in an accident that meets the requirements for a DOT accident. These requirements vary depending on the DOT mode you are testing under, and both alcohol and drugs should be tested for. The tests are to be performed immediately after the accident, or as early as possible with a goal within the first 2 hours and no later than 8 hours after and accident for alcohol testing and 32 hours for a drug test. If you miss the window for the testing, you must have documented reasoning as to why the test event was missed.

Number 3: Random Testing Random testing is the biggest deterrent to substance abuse. The donors are selected at random, usually through a computer program. The donors are usually not notified until the time of testing, or when they are notified, they have a specific time frame that they must do the test. Random drug testing is done for all modalities of the DOT and random alcohol testing is done at a lesser rate for most DOT modalities, but not all. Every name in the random pull has an equal chance of getting pulled for each testing event. This means, if an employee is pulled for ones testing event, the very next testing event, he or she has the same likelihood of being selected again. This means that there are almost always a few employees who get selected multiple times while other employees may go a year or longer without ever being selected.

Number 4: Reasonable Suspicion TestingYou would call for this test when an employee is suspected of having performance or safety issues that might be explained by drug or alcohol abuse. Some of the indicators to look for are: behavior physicalspeechperformanceFor this reason, the supervisors and decision makers need to be trained on what to look for. For reasonable suspicion testing, you should have both alcohol and drug tests performed. You are not to attempt to determine what substance the employee might be intoxicated with, which is why both tests should always be done in a reasonable suspicion case.

Number 5: Return-to-Duty Test This test is conducted after an employee refuses to test or has positive DOT drug test. Anyone who fails a drug or alcohol test or refuses to take a drug or alcohol test, it is required that the employee go through a DOT approved substance abuse professional (or SAP) for an evaluation and treatment. After the treatment is complete, then the employee must pass a drug and alcohol test to return to safety-sensitive duties. All return-to-duty testing must be done under direct observation. This is another case where both drug and alcohol tests should be performed.

Number 6:Follow-Up Testing Follow-up testing is a series of tests given to the donor after they complete their treatment and pass their return-to-duty tests. While the number may vary, in the DOT program they must pass six unannounced tests in one year. This testing could last up to 5 years. The testing frequency and length is prescribed by the treating SAP and the donor is not informed of the prescribed testing and therefore will not know when they will be testing through the follow-up testing program. These tests are also done under direct observation for the DOT. Both drug and alcohol tests should be performed.