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FTA
Drug and Alcohol Regulation Updates |
CLARIFICATIONS |
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Where to Find? ..... To verify the certification status of a
laboratory, DHHS has established a telephone HELPLINE (800) 843-4971.
The information presented on this page should be used to update Chapters
2, 7, and 10 of
the revised Implementation Guidelines. |
Employees Covered By More Than One Mode Occasionally employers find that they are required to comply with the drug and alcohol testing regulations of other modes in addition to FTA. Most commonly, the other mode is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that covers drivers with Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDLs). If the employers are able to segregate the employees who provide transit service from those who perform safety-sensitive functions for the other mode, the employer is required to establish programs for each group of employees reflecting the corresponding regulatory requirements. However, if employees perform safety-sensitive functions for both transit and another mode for the same employer, the employer must determine which modal administration regulates the majority (> 50 percent) of the employee’s safety-sensitive functions covered under the USDOT. For example, a mechanic works on public transit vehicles five (5) hours a day (all safety-sensitive work) and dump trucks for three (3) hours a day (the only portion of this work which is safety-sensitive is the one hour a day during which the mechanic test drives the dump trucks actually using his CDL). In this case, because the majority of his safety-sensitive functions are FTA-regulated, the employee would fall under FTA regulations for pre-employment and random testing. The employee would fall under FTA or FMCSA for post-accident and reasonable suspicion testing depending on the function the employee was performing at the time of the incident/accident. Return-to-duty and follow-up tests are assigned to the modal administration that generated the initial positive test. However, because the random testing rates are the same for both FTA and FMCSA, the random pool can be commingled and administered commonly. News Releases Of Drug Test Results? Occasionally, newspaper articles appear that speak of an individual’s drug test results generating questions regarding how the information was released and how the release related to the confidentiality provisions set forth in 49 CFR Part 40, Subpart P. The regulations specifically state that individual test results or medical information about an employee may not be released to third parties without the employee’s specific written consent. Information releases associated with legal proceedings can only be released with a binding stipulation that the decision maker to whom it is released will make it available only to parties to the proceeding. In most cases, where newspapers report test results, the tests are not DOT, but are conducted under another’s authority such as local law enforcement as part of their accident investigation procedures. These records may, over time, become part of the public record and do not have the same confidentiality requirements as those conducted under DOT authority. MRO Procedure Clarified—Adulterant/Split Specimen Testing Not all DHHS certified laboratories can test for all adulterants and in some cases, only a small number of laboratories have the capability to test. Therefore, in very rare circumstances, it might be possible that there would be no laboratory capable of testing a split specimen when the primary laboratory identified the presence of an adulterant in the primary specimen. Should this situation arise, the MRO must report to the employer that the specimen, “Failed to Reconfirm: Split Laboratory Not Available for Testing.” The MRO must cancel the test, report the result to the Designated Employer Representative and the employee, document the reason for the cancellation, and report the failure to confirm to the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC). The MRO must then direct the DER to immediately send the employee back for a retest under direct observation without any advanced notice. The result of the retest should be considered the result of record. |