Random drug tests are one of the best ways to make sure drugs are not an issue in your workplace. When drug tests are randomized, every employee understands his or her responsibility to be sober and knows the consequences of violating that expectation. Randomized testing is also fair to your entire team and gives employees an easy way of avoiding social pressure to take drugs since they can blame workplace testing. If you’re interested in setting up a randomized drug testing program in your workplace, the Department of Transportation, or DOT, recommends these strategies.
Know Your Randomized Rate Requirements
The DOT requires randomized testing for safety-sensitive employees, but the rate at which you are required to test varies between transportation industries. The rates change annually, and they can always be found on the DOT website. There are different randomized test rates for drug and alcohol testing. Keep in mind that these rates are minimum requirements. You can decide the rates that are appropriate for your company, as long as you meet these minimum standards.
Test According to Job Function
To meet DOT requirements for random drug testing, you should decide who to include in the random pool according to their job function. Anyone with a safety-sensitive position, regardless of their job title, should be subject to random drug tests, according to DOT guidelines. You can have a separate randomized test policy at your business that includes other people in the test pool, but if your purpose is to set up a DOT-compliant randomized test program, then you should only include safety-sensitive roles.
Make Test Selection and Timing Unpredictable
Everyone in your test pool should have the same chance of getting selected for a test, and tests should take place on different days for each round. Generally, tests should be performed quarterly, but within each quarter, the date should be unpredictable.
If you need help setting up or executing a random drug testing program, call HDS Safety Services. Our safety and compliance experts in Tucson can help you build the right testing program for your company’s needs. For more information, call (520) 622-0419.
