random drug test specimen deadline?

szemcumo · May 2005

Do to a lapse of judgement and a flub up in our procedures for our random drug test this is what happened and what I need your opinions on. We send our randoms and pre-em drug test to a local dr. So far so good..the problem is they close between 12-2 for lunch. Last month we had an ee whom we sent at 10:00 for his rdt. He said he couldn't produce..they had to close for their 2 hour lunch so he was sent back to us. We resent him at 2:00, the problem is that evidently as we got the story from another ee the ee contacted a friend on his was back in and got a specimen from him because he was dirty. EE passed his test due to friends sample. We will no longer send them back we want to change policy to you are required to produce a sample between -- and -- failure to do so will constitute a failed test. EEs are given water here and at the clinic. 2 to 3 hours should be more than enough time to produce unless you are trying to pull something. Do you see any problem with stating the policy as I have said above. Your help is greatly appreciated as we are in a new month and need to decide how we want to handle rdt in the future. THANKS!!
Sandie

awilliams · May 2005

I admit that I am fairly rusty on this area of the law, but I vaguely remember something in the DOT regs about "shy bladder syndrome" (I am not making this up) and the steps that must/should be taken if the candidate cannot produce. I think that there is a specific time period - and it may be more than the two hours that this guy was given. If you are covered by the DOT regs, you may want to look into that. Perhaps someone on the Fourm who deals with these issues on a daily basis can enlighten all of us.

It seems that having the testing location close for a period of two hours during the middle of the day isn't that effective. You may want to shop around for a facility that provides better coverage.

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

twochr · May 2005

I guess you can put anything in a policy you want; however, I cannot imagine a clinic not realizing the specimen is not at the exact temperature it should be if it is 'fresh'. Of course I heard there are 'kits' you can buy so you can keep the specimen at the correct temp, etc., but I doubt that the ordinary employee would have access to something like this. I don't see where your making the employee go 2 or 3 hours from the time you tell them would prevent them from cheating if they plan to. Only way I guess you could make sure would be to have them escorted to the dr office and stay there til they are done.

szemcumo · May 2005

Our ees are called to my office and given a slip to take to the office and ten minutes to get there. They are escorted from my office to the parking lot. Failure to make it in the ten minutes which is enough time (approx1/2 mile away)to get there is a failed test also. Not sure how he did it....warm car..friend waiting in parking lot...added some of his own...don't know..only what the other ee told us. We have thought about another doctor, but rural area and this is the only one doing dts.

twochr · May 2005

I would tell the dr then what the ee told you that this other ee did. If they are reputable, they will certainly work with you. Our clinic closes from 12-1 every day but if someone is there who cannot produce, they do not leave until the person does produce. Instead of water, they usually give them Coca Cola or coffee as the caffeine stimulates the bladder better than water and also does not cause a 'dilute' result if too much is drunk. Do talk to the dr about all this and I bet they will work with you.

TN HR · May 2005

If you keep the specimen in your groin area or in your armpit it will hold pretty close to 98.whatever the hell it's supposed to. Besides, the temp strip on the outside of the specimen bottle is only a ballpark estimate. It never gets an actual thermometer.

The only way to do this in a fool-proof manner is to bring a nurse on-site and have him/her escort the ee into the rest room and physically observe the urine stream leave the body and go into the cup.

Gene

Down_the_Middle · May 2005

I understand the intent, altho requiring someone to produce sufficient specimen between--and-- will likely not be effective. You're forcing yourself to eventually discharge someone for inability to produce a specimen and that's not likely going to be sustainable. I've seen many people unable to produce sufficient amounts in 3 hours and that did not mean anything other than "I can't go right now".....
This issue of having the local Dr close for 2 hrs is most of the problem. Can "they" alter that arrangement on your drug screen days? If not, I'd start searching for an alternative vendor/MRO. If your policy requires the employee to report to the site within "X" minutes of being notified, you'll have to rely on the vendor to handle the delicate balance of time vs. amount of fluid intake to produce sufficient specimen.

Don D · May 2005

First: DOT procedures do not apply to you unless the employee is in a DOT covered job. Second: I would immediately send this employee for a drug screen and would do so under escort. Third: I would find a clinic or lab that does not close and send people away. That's idiotic. What if the employee got there at 11:30 and the waiting room was full. Either I'd change or have someone come to the facility on screen day.

But, I would definitely 'reasonable suspicion' test this genius.

safety · May 2005

Please read the private message I just sent to you.

Don D · May 2005

Safety: you have a pattern of doing this.

safety · May 2005

Sorry, I sent a recommendation to szemcumo for a private company who specializes in this area. They have contract collectors nationwide. I didn’t know if I would be violating any Forum rules therefore the private message was sent. If the Forum tells me I can publicly recommend a company I’ll post the name and contact info.

KD13 · May 2005

We used to send our employees to the doctor as well. This meant lost production of these employees not to mention paying them to ride, wait at the doctor's office and then ride back to work. We are approximately 45 minutes away from the doctor's office.

We now pay a nurse from the same doctor's office to come on site to perform the test for us. We have the employees wait in a private room until they can go! Caffeine will pass through the body in approximately 30 minutes if the water does not do the trick.

Along the lines of what Don said, it is ludicrous for the doctor to close up shop and send people away. Either have the test administered on site or get another facility to handle the testing.

lorrie · May 2005

We have arrangements with our local hospital emergency room/lab for collections. We started this because we wanted to be able to send our evening shift randoms when they arrived at work instead of calling them in during the day. The ER does not close, which works well for us, and their collection fee is slightly less than our company doctor's office. We had been concerned about long wait times because obviously a random collection is not a high priority for an ER, but it has not ever been an issue.

The issue I would still like to change is how long an ee is paid. We pay for their time for the collection, and occasionally they take 3-4 hours to produce. I would like to say we pay for 1 hour, and if they take longer it is unpaid.

random drug test specimen deadline?

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