Best Practices (PDF Format)

Best Practices

FTA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program

October 2009

Mandatory Direct Observation Collections for Return-to-Duty and Follow-Up Testing

On July 30, 2009, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register, that restores mandatory direct observation collections for all return-to-duty and follow-up testing. This direct observation rule is to be applied to all return-to-duty, safety-sensitive transportation industry employees who have already failed or refused to take a prior drug test.

Mandatory direct observation for return-to-duty and follow-up testing is to begin on August 31, 2009. All employees who undergo return-to-duty and follow-up tests on and after the effective date must have their collections observed by testing personnel. This includes employees currently in follow-up testing programs who will still be in those programs on and after August 31, 2009.

The Final Rule on direct observations may be found on the Federal Register website at:

As a result of this latest mandate, the following sections of the Best Practices Manual have been updated to reflect this testing requirement.

? Section 2.8 ? Return-to-Duty and Follow-Up Testing ? Section 5.1 ? Managing the Referral, Evaluation, and Treatment Process ? Appendix D, Figure D-5. Collection Site Checklist (Sheet 3) Observed Collections

Updated Example Policies

In January 2009, 12 updated drug and alcohol example policies were added to the Best Practices Manual: FTA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program binder. These policies were reviewed and determined to be compliant with 49 CFR Parts 40 and 655. These updated polices replace the original example polices that were first published with the Best Practices Manual in March 2002, and are intended for employers who wish to develop their own internal drug and alcohol policies or oversee the work performed by consultants. The updated policies that are provided in Appendix A. Example Policies, are as follows:

(1) Large Transit System?MARTA (2) Rural Paratransit Contractor?Drug-Free Workplace?Lift, Incorporated (3) Medium Transit System?Knoxville Area Transit (4) Large Transit System?Zero Tolerance?Houston Metro (5) Small Transit System?Clermont County (6) City Government?FTA and FMCSA?City of Charlottesville (7) Small Transit System?Athens?Clarke County (8) Large Transit System?San Diego Transit Corporation

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(9) State DOT?Statewide Policy?Ohio DOT (10) With Second Chance (template policy) (11) No Second Chance (template policy) (12) FTA and FMCSA (template policy) The text of the enclosed removable booklet remains unchanged and it still references the original example polices from the 2002 printing of this manual. Readers should disregard those referenced policies as they are not provided in this revision. Those interested in the original example polices can access them on the FTA Office of Safety and Security, Drug and Alcohol Publications Web site at: . The booklet will be updated at a later time. For additional information on current U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration drug and alcohol regulations, please refer to the FTA Office of Safety and Security Web site at: (click Drug & Alcohol). The Office of the Secretary's Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) Web site provides information and interpretations on drug and alcohol polices and regulations, including 49 CFR Part 40. The ODAPC site can be accessed at: .

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U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Transit Administration

Best Practices Manual: FTA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program

Revised October 2009

Office of Safety and Security

Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof.

Notice

The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report.

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE

Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.

1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)

2. REPORT DATE

March 2002

3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED

Final Report March 2002

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Best Practices Manual: FTA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program

5. FUNDING NUMBERS

U2027/TM254

6. AUTHOR(S)

Robert L. Gaumer

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

EG&G Technical Services * 55 Broadway

Cambridge, MA 02142-1093

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER

DOT-VNTSC-FTA-02-05

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Office of Safety and Security Washington, DC 20590

10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

FTA-MA-90-5005-02-1

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

*Under contract to: U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Special Programs Administration John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center 55 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02142-0193

12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service,

Springfield, Virginia 22161.

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

This document is part of a two-volume set prepared under the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) General Technical Assistance Program, to provide guidance to the recipients of FTA funding that are required to test their safety-sensitive employees for drug use and alcohol misuse. This volume discusses "best practices" used by employers to establish and maintain a compliant testing program. The other volume, Implementation Guidelines for Drug and Alcohol Regulations in Mass Transit, explains the regulatory requirements, which were revised in 2001.

The best practices discussed here were identified during 5 years of FTA-sponsored audits of existing programs. They are responses to the requirements that allow for flexibility in how to comply, i.e., areas where employers have to choose between different options and areas where they may want to exceed the minimum FTA requirements. This document identifies the areas where choices are required, the issues involved in making those choices, and "real world" examples of choices made. The discussions are organized according to the four required elements of an FTA anti-drug use and alcohol misuse program: (1) a program policy statement, (2) an education and training program, (3) a testing program, and (4) a procedure for referring policy violators to a substance abuse professional.

14. SUBJECT TERMS

Drugs and alcohol, drug and alcohol testing, best practices, public transit, safety, accidents, Federal Transit

Administration, FTA, regulations.

15. NUMBER OF PAGES

328

16. PRICE CODE

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT

Unclassified

NSN 7540-01-280-5500

18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE

Unclassified

19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF ABSTRACT

Unclassified

20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT

Unlimited

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18

298-102

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