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

the “insufficient volume” procedures
defined in §40.193, and later described in
Chapter 7. If, when following these
procedures, the applicant is still unable to
provide a sufficient specimen, the employer
must direct the applicant to obtain an
evaluation from a licensed physician within
5 days. The physician must be acceptable to
the MRO and have expertise in the relevant
medical field. The physician must ascertain
if there is a medical condition that with a
high degree of probability, precluded the
applicant from providing a sufficient amount
of urine. Additionally, the physician must
determine if the applicant’s medical
condition is the result of a serious,
permanent, or long-term disability. If so, the
MRO or evaluating physician must
determine if there is clinical evidence of
illicit drug use. The MRO/physician may
conduct an alternative test (e.g., blood test)
as part of the medical evaluation. If there is
no evidence of illegal drug use, the MRO
must report the test result as negative,
thereby allowing the applicant to be
assigned safety-sensitive duties. The
employer must make the applicant a
conditional offer of employment before the
medical evaluation, consistent with
provisions of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
Pre-employment Test Refusals
An applicant is considered to have
refused a test only if the donor has
committed to the process and the collection
has commenced (i.e., the applicant accepts
the collection cup), and then fails to
cooperate with or complete the collection
process as defined in §40.191 and further
described in Chapter 7. If the applicant does
not appear at all for the pre-employment
test, leaves the collection site, or fails to
cooperate before the test commences, he/she
has not refused a test because the test has
not yet commenced.
Section 2. REASONABLE
SUSPICION TESTING
The FTA regulations (§655.43) require a
safety-sensitive employee to submit to a test
when the employer has reasonable suspicion
that the employee has used a prohibited drug
or has misused alcohol. The request to
undergo a reasonable suspicion test must be
based on specific, contemporaneous,
articulable observations concerning the
appearance, behavior, speech, or body odor
of the safety-sensitive employee.
Reasonable suspicion testing provides
management with a tool to identify affected
employees who may pose a danger to
themselves and others in their performance
of safety-sensitive functions. Employees
may be at work in a condition that raises
concern regarding their safety or
productivity. A supervisor or other
company official must determine if
reasonable suspicion exists to conclude that
substance abuse or alcohol misuse may be
causing the behavior.
Chapter 6. Types of Testing 6-5 August 2002