Drug Testing

Why is it an issue?

There are eye-opening statistics that reveal the nature and size of America's problem with drug abuse in the workplace as well as the general population. In short, persons who go to work influenced by drugs and/or alcohol are absent, late; more frequently injured and are sick more days than employees who don’t.

The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 requires drug and alcohol testing of safety-sensitive transportation employees in aviation, trucking, railroads, mass transit, pipelines, and other transportation industries. DOT publishes rules on who must conduct drug and alcohol tests, how to conduct those tests, and what procedures to use when testing. These regulations cover all transportation employers, safety-sensitive transportation employees, and service agents – roughly 10 million people. Encompassed in 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 40, the Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance (ODAPC) publishes, implements, and provides authoritative interpretations of these rules.

Employers of safety-sensitive transportation employees play a vital role in ensuring the safety of their employees and the traveling public. Employers are responsible for developing and implementing successful DOT workplace drug and alcohol programs that have as their components clear policies, provisions for education and training, drug and alcohol testing, and when needed, referral for evaluation and treatment.