If you have a business in logistics or professional transportation, you probably have to make sure you comply with DOT drug testing regulations, and occasionally have to test workers for drug use by collecting a urine specimen for analysis. If you’re not sending workers to a professional collection facility, here is how you do it correctly.
Secure The Restroom
Ensure the restroom has no chemicals, no cubbyholes or pockets where things can be hidden. You want an environment where additional contaminants can’t be added, nor can samples be switched out with substitutes to provide a negative test result. Everything about the restroom area must be carefully searched, secured, and monitored.
Picture ID Required
It’s important for people being tested to have some kind of picture ID available. This is to prevent substitution where someone else comes in, claiming to be the person that is to be tested, in order to provide a negative test result.
Have The Forms
There is paperwork that is required to be filled out for a urine test, although electronic options also exist for people that want the security of a digital document. The form is accompanied by urine sample collection containers that are numbered and entered on the form, so the container, with its number, must match what is designated on the form. The worker must fill out all required information on the form.
Garment & Pocket Removal
To reduce the chances of cheating, people being tested are required to shed any outer garments, such as coats, jackets, and backpacks, in case there is anything hidden in this outerwear. The same is true for pockets, which must be emptied before testing.
Handwashing, Flushing & Water Usage Protocol
Ensure that the person being tested washes their hands once, before testing, and does not wash their hands again, or flush the toilet until after the urine specimen has been collected, and permission has been given to do so. There must not be any additional way for people being tested to introduce water into the test, such as using the sink, or another source of tap water.
Use Bluing Agent In The Toilet
A bluing agent is a coloration that is added to a toilet—and its tank—to color the water blue. This is to ensure that some people being tested don’t try to cheat results by diluting their urine specimen with additional sources of water. If they resort to the toilet, the blue coloring agent there will show up in their urine specimen.
If you need training for DOT urine specimen collections, visit – the DOT Drug Testing Collector Course
