Employment and Post-Accident Drug Testing in the Workplace

Drug testing, and specifically post-accident drug testing, is required by many companies. When you work in a safety-sensitive position (such as “aviation, trucking, railroads, mass transit and other transportation industries”) employers are mandated to perform pre-employment, reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing. Aside from businesses who hire safety-sensitive employees, many companies choose to implement a drug-free workplace and will also perform drug testing.

When to Perform Drug Testing

“Best practice is to only test an individual after a conditional offer of employment, under reasonable suspicion, due to a workplace injury or randomly.” Pre-employment drug testing ensures that new hires are free from drug use and are suitable for a safety-sensitive position. If an employer performs a drug test because of reasonable suspicion that means that the employee has shown signs that they may be using drugs or alcohol and are putting the public safety, or their coworkers, at risk. When an employee is involved in a workplace injury or accident they may be mandated to undergo post-accident drug testing. Random drug testing is sometimes implemented as well, this occurs when “a company has experienced issues or if the company operates in a high hazard occupation where there is a potential for an injury to the employee or co-employees.”

Post-Accident Drug Testing and Employees

While other drug testing may occur due to reasonable suspicion, randomly or due to pre-employment conditions, post-accident drug testing is dire to ensure workplace safety. When an accident occurs screenings for post-accident drug testing should occur within 24 hours of incident. If an employer waits longer than 24 hours the employee may be able to eliminate the drugs or alcohol that was in their system or challenge “whether he or she was intoxicated at the time of the injury.”

Positive Test? What Now?

When an employer receives a positive drug test from their DOT employee they are required to give them a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) list and instruct them to complete the return-to-duty process. A SAP is a professional that screens the employee and instructs them on what to do next depending on the severity of their drug or alcohol problem. When an employee gets evaluated by a SAP and completes the return-to-duty process it is up to the employer to allow them to take on their safety-sensitive position again.

Pre-employment, reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing keeps the workplace free from drug and alcohol use. It is important that employers follow these guidelines as drug and alcohol use not only put their business at risk but the public’s safety as well.

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What employers need to know about drug testing

SAP Referral Services (SRS) provides employers and employees with SAP resources in their area. Since its founding in Baltimore, Maryland in 2003, SRS has emerged as a leading facilitator for mandated substance abuse and psychological evaluations within North America. It is the only existing nationwide network of DOT qualified providers that is privately operated by an MBE/DBE/SBE-certified working President and CEO.

For more information on our services, or to find SAPs for employees in your area, click here.