HEC members who don’t have Dept. of Transportation or Dept. of Defense mandated drug testing may be interested in viewing a sample policy designed for regular job applicants and employees. See the model policy

Check out the Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations resources for employers in developing a drug free workplace program. Included is a publication made available by Laulima Hawaii on the supervisor’s role in addressing suspected drug or alcohol abuse.

The percentage of positive tests for methamphetamine among U.S. workers and job applicants dropped more than 22 percent between 2006 and 2007, reports Quest Diagnostics, a national drug testing service. Quest Diagnostics also says its data show that positive tests for cocaine in the general U.S. workforce were down 19 percent between 2006 and 2007, and that overall drug use among workers subject to drug testing remains at an all-time low.

Although positive methamphetamine tests have decreased, the data also indicate that the use of amphetamine has increased slightly among workers, by about five percent. "Although some may conclude that there is a reduced availability for methamphetamine, the fact that our data show an increase in amphetamines suggests that some workers might be replacing one stimulant drug for another in the larger drug class of amphetamines,” says Quest Diagnostics spokesman Barry Sample.

Responding to the outcry from union and transportation groups, the U.S. Dept. of Labor has changed the effective date of its rule requiring direct observation of second collections of urine specimens for transport worker drug tests to November 1, 2008. Originally, the rule was supposed take effect on August 25, 2008.

The DOT rule requires covered employers who receive an initial drug test result indicating that the test was invalid (adulterated, substituted, positive for drugs or drug metabolites, and/or invalid)—or if the drug test is a return-to-duty test or follow-up test—to direct a second collection under direct observation. The rule specifies that observers must “request the employee to raise his or her shirt, blouse, or dress/skirt, as appropriate, above the waist; and lower clothing and underpants to show … by turning around, that they do not have a prosthetic device.” After the observer determines that the employee does not have a prosthetic device, the observer “permit[s] the employee to return clothing to its proper position for observed urination.”

Along with postponing the effective date, the DOT is also requesting comments on the content of the rule for 30 days.

Employers who are subject to U.S. Dept. of Transportation drug and alcohol testing requirements for drivers and other transit workers will be required to ensure that second collections of urine specimens take place under direct observation, according to a DOT rule that will be implemented on August 25.

Covered employers who receive an initial drug test result indicating that the test was invalid (adulterated, substituted, positive for drugs or drug metabolites, and/or invalid)—or if the drug test is a return-to-duty test or follow-up test—must direct a second collection under direct observation. The DOT rules specifies that observers must “request the employee to raise his or her shirt, blouse, or dress/skirt, as appropriate, above the waist; and lower clothing and underpants to show … by turning around, that they do not have a prosthetic device.” After the observer determines that the employee does not have a prosthetic device, the observer “permit[s] the employee to return clothing to its proper position for observed urination.”

Most of the nation’s 16.4 million current illicit drug users and 15 million heavy alcohol users hold full-time jobs, according to a new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA says the highest rates of current illicit drug use were among food service workers (17.4 percent) and construction workers (15.1 percent), and the highest rates of current heavy alcohol use were found among construction, mining, excavation and drilling workers (17.8 percent), and installation, maintenance, and repair workers (14.7 percent).

Higher levels of absenteeism and frequent job changes are associated with the illicit drug and alcohol use, nearly twice as many current illicit drug users skipped one or more days of work in the past month compare to those who did not abuse drugs. Another major finding was that current drug users were more likely to work for employers who did not conduct drug or alcohol testing programs. For the full 200-page report, see Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs.