Implementation Guidelines - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

Are random numbers substituted only when the selected individual will
not be performing job duties during the testing period?
If an employee is unavailable during the draw period due to vacation or
other long-term absence, a replacement number should be drawn. If an
employee is temporarily unavailable at the time the employer wishes to
conduct the test, or it is their day off, the number should be held until
their next shift within the same testing period. No employee should be
excused because of operational difficulties.
Is the random number selection process conducted in strict confidence to
ensure that individuals are not pre-warned?
The process must be unannounced. The transit agency should establish a
standard procedure and practice for notifying employees that have been
selected for testing. The transit agency should arrange for someone to
take over the individual’s duties while being tested without giving
advance indication that a test will be conducted.
Are only US DOT safety-sensitive employees included in the random
pool?
All safety-sensitive employees must be included in the random pool. If
the transit agency decides to test non-safety-sensitive employees, those
employees must be placed in a separate pool and tested under the transit
agency’s authority, not the FTA’s or DOT’s.
Are procedures in place to avoid administrative manipulation of the
program if the administrator is included in the random pool?
If the transit agency’s administrator is in the random testing pool,
someone outside of the pool must be notified of the administrator’s
random number selection. When the administrator’s number is
randomly selected another employee or responsible individual should be
designated as the contact. This person should schedule and notify the
administrator of the test and ensure that the test is performed
immediately upon notification (Fall/Winter 1996 Update, page 6).
Are procedures in place to provide privacy to the safety-sensitive
employee being tested? The agency should discreetly notify the
employee to report to the collection site.
Appendix J. Self-Assessment Checklist J-31 August 2002
A
R
DMINISTRATIVE
EQUIREMENTS
Random Testing