National Drug Screening, Inc (NDS) is excited to sponsor the Inside Drug Screening column in The Background Buzz for 2024. It is our intent to educate the background screening industry on important news, information and trends about drug screening. Our focus will be on workplace drug testing and each month we will feature a specific drug testing topic followed by any recent news, information and trends. These back to the basics drug testing topics will help your teams better understand drug testing and to help grow your drug testing revenue.
As mentioned above we will be providing this column throughout 2024; it will focus on back to the basics of drug testing. In this article, we will discuss the differences between DOT and Non-DOT Drug Testing. It is essential to understand the differences between DOT and Non-DOT drug testing programs. Understanding each will help background screening providers to sell more drug testing including more DOT programs which are not really that difficult to manage.
Toward the end of each article, we will also cover recent news, information and trends we are seeing related to drug testing.
DOT Drug Testing
- Commercial Motor Carriers (FMCSA), 49 CFR Part 382
- Aviation (FAA), 14 CFR Part 120
- Pipeline (PHMSA), 49 CFR Part 199
- Railroad (FRA), 49 CFR Part 219
- Public Transportation (FTA), 49 CFR Part 655
- Maritime (USCG), 46 CFR Parts 4 & 16
The overall drug and alcohol testing regulations 49 CFR Part 40 state how to conduct testing and how to return employees to safety-sensitive duties after they violate a DOT drug and alcohol regulation. Part 40 applies to all DOT-required testing, regardless of what DOT agency-specific rules apply to an employer.
Each DOT Agency-specific regulation spells out who is subject to testing, when and in what situations testing must be conducted for a particular transportation industry.
Selling DOT drug and alcohol testing services is not difficult; this process just requires a knowledgeable team that can follow the regulations mentioned above so that the employers stay in compliance. A big part of these programs is managing required random testing which is often easily accomplished with available drug testing industry software.
The most important item to be aware of for DOT drug and alcohol testing is that the regulations must be followed and there is not a lot of room for flexibility. Here is what is required for a compliant DOT drug and alcohol testing program:
- The employer appoints a Designated Employer Representative (DER) as the key employee for many drug and alcohol program functions, this function cannot be outsourced.
- Employee education including a written company drug free workplace policy should be available to all DOT covered/safety sensitive employees.
- A negative pre-employment drug test result is required prior to an employee operating in DOT covered/safety sensitive position.
- Venders, often called Service Agents, include specimen collectors, labs, MRO, breath alcohol technicians, and substance abuse professionals. For the DOT drug testing program, these Service Agents must be trained and qualified and perform services in accordance with the DOT drug and alcohol testing regulations.
- Training for supervisors to make to make reasonable suspicion and reasonable cause testing decisions is required.
- The five panel DOT drug test is the only panel that may be used for DOT testing.
- Marijuana is prohibited in the DOT program and must be tested for and this means no allowable explanations for medical or recreational marijuana.
- Testing reasons must include Pre-employment, Random, Reasonable Suspicion / Reasonable Cause, Post-Accident, Return-to-Duty and Follow-up.
- A federal custody and control form (CCF) or a federal electronic custody and control form (eCCF) must be used for DOT testing.
- For a positive result or refusal to test, the employer must immediately remove the employee from safety-sensitive functions and give the employee a list of qualified substance abuse professionals (SAP).
- For applicants, there must be verification of an employee’s prior DOT drug and alcohol testing history. For FMCSA regulated employers only, this is done via the FMCSA Clearinghouse database. These verifications are to insure the applicant is not in a prohibited status due to a previous violation that has not been cleared.
- Confidentiality and record keeping are important components of a DOT drug and alcohol program and would also apply to a Non-DOT program.
The DOT publishes a comprehensive guide that includes mush more detail on the items above. If you are currently selling or intend to sell DOT drug & alcohol testing programs, reviewing this guide is critical: What Employers Need To Know About DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing
Non-DOT Drug Testing
Selling Non-DOT drug testing programs may seem the easier way to go but there are some complexities to be aware of due to the many state laws. Company policies and state laws should dictate how Non-DOT drug testing should be conducted. For business operating in only one state, the program can be implemented easier than businesses operating in multiple states.
Often, DOT drug testing is considered the gold standard for workplace drug testing which is why many Non-DOT drug testing programs follow or mirror the DOT programs. That being said, there are a few differences to be aware of:
- State laws have to be considered as to any restrictions on applicant or employee drug testing.
- Federal CCF’s should not be used for Non-DOT drug testing.
- Company policies should spell out what are the reasons for testing employees and random testing may or may not be a part of the program.
- Employers conducting drug testing without a well thought out drug free workplace policy have the potential to face liability when something goes wrong in their program.
- Employers (in a policy) decide on any disciplinary actions for positive results or refusals to test situations.
- An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can be utilized as a tool to help employees through troubled times. This may include second or last chance agreements after a drug test refusal or positive test.
- Return to duty and follow-up testing are options an employer may consider.
Marijuana is a big issue with State laws and this is the hottest topic in drug testing today. Decisions about marijuana testing must be made and incorporated into company policy including adverse actions to take after a marijuana positive. As a background screening company, you must get educated about marijuana in the workplace and the state laws that apply where you have clients conducting drug testing. NDS offers a comprehensive resource on our web site to help you navigate this process – Marijuana in the Workplace.
Drug Testing Recent News, Information And Trends
As mentioned above, marijuana is the hottest topic in the drug testing industry. Some companies (Non-DOT) are electing to drop marijuana from their drug testing panels. Education on what is going on in the states where your clients are operating is critical. For instance, new laws concerning marijuana have recently taken effect in Minnesota, California, and Washington.
On the DOT side, we will see major changes in 2024 or early 2025 when DOT oral fluid drug testing becomes operational. DOT regulated employers will have the option to utilize urine or oral fluid or a combination of both in their DOT drug testing programs. If you are providing DOT drug and alcohol testing, we recommend you immediately start becoming familiar with DOT oral fluid requirements and options.
Drug use in American is up. The 2022 SAMHSA survey just recently published reports that among people aged 12 or older, an estimated 70.3 million people used illicit drugs in the past year (2022 survey) [24.9% of population]. If you read the news, you know that Fentanyl is now a big problem in the United States. You should be aware that DOT programs do not currently test for Fentanyl and that for Non-DOT programs, you are not testing for Fentanyl unless it is specifically requested to be added to the drug testing panel your client is using.
For next month’s Inside Drug Screening column in The Background Buzz; the topic will include drug test panels and understanding drug testing beyond the five panel. As you may have noticed from our article, National Drug Screening (NDS) firmly believes that knowledge is power when it comes to selling drug testing services and servicing your clients. If you are serious about gaining more knowledge about drug testing, check out our NDS Business Support Portal a tool to help and support your drug testing business.
Joe Reilly entered the world of drug testing in 1993 and over the last 25+ years has become a leading national expert on workplace drug testing, drug free workplace programs and specimen collections for drug tests. Joe is the President of a nationwide drug testing industry consulting firm – Joe Reilly & Associates. He is also President of National Drug Screening and is the Senior Director of Compliance for USA Mobile Drug Testing Inc.
Joe served for twelve years on the board of directors of DATIA the Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (now NDASA) and for four of those years as the Chairman of the Board.
