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

subpoena or official request to release test
results to employers.
Procedures Following an Accident
The steps to follow in a post-accident
situation are summarized as follows:
1. Treat any injury first. The
accident victims’ physical health is
always a higher priority than
conducting a substance abuse test.
2. Cooperate with law enforcement
officials. Allow local law
enforcement to conduct their
investigation. For purposes of their
investigation, the police may require
a test for a legal determination of the
presence of drugs or alcohol.
Remember that you cannot use the
results of a test given for law
enforcement purposes unless the
employee is unavailable for FTA
testing during the designated time
period following the accident. You
must use due diligence to administer
post-accident tests in accordance
with FTA’s regulations.
3. Determine if the incident meets the
FTA definition of an accident.
Based on the information available at
the time of the incident, determine if
it meets the FTA criteria for an
accident. For a nonfatal accident,
determine if the operator can be
completely discounted as a
contributing factor. Determine if any
other covered employee besides the
driver could have contributed to the
accident. Determine whom to test.
4. Explain the need for testing. Tell
the employee(s) that a test is required
by FTA regulations to be conducted.
Point out to the employee that a
negative finding will objectively put
to rest any suspicion of drugs and
alcohol as a cause of the accident.
5. Conduct tests promptly. The FTA
regulations require that specimen
collection be performed as soon as
possible, but no later than 8 hours for
alcohol and 32 hours following the
accident for drugs.
6. Document the test decision
promptly. As soon as practical
following the accident, document the
reason why a test was conducted or
why one was not.
Figures 6-3 and 6-5 at the end of this
chapter, illustrate the post-accident testing
processes for alcohol and drugs.
Section 4. RANDOM TESTING
The FTA regulation (§655.45) requires
random testing of drugs and alcohol for all
safety-sensitive employees. Random testing
can identify employees who are using drugs
or misusing alcohol, but are able to use the
predictability of other testing methods to
escape detection. More importantly, it is
widely believed that random testing serves
as a strong deterrent against employees
beginning or continuing prohibited drug use
and misuse of alcohol.
Transit agencies must use a scientifically
valid random-number selection method to
select safety-sensitive employees. Valid
methods include the use of a randomnumber
table or a computer-based randomnumber
generator that is matched with
safety-sensitive employees’ identification
numbers (i.e., social security number,
payroll number, or other employer
identification number). Picking numbers
from a hat or other manual techniques are
not acceptable due to inherent or perceived
Chapter 6. Types of Testing 6-12 August 2002