EDPM Blog

So You Think You Can Drug Test? Factor #4: Random Testing

Tweet

 

“For many organizations, the most valuable part of their drug testing program is random testing.  Many people can stay clean long enough to get a job, so without random testing, there's no real deterrant for further drug use."

- Dr. Howard M. Strickler, Medical Review Officer

Did you know that over 40% of current illicit drug users in the U.S. say they're "less likely" to apply for a job at a company that does random testing?  That’s great news for employers that have random testing in place, and for those that don’t, this installment of the Top 10 Factors in Developing a Drug Testing Program series is for you!  

Random drug testing is one of the most effective tools in combating drug use in the American workplace, in school systems, and in non-profit or volunteer organizations as well.  When developing a drug testing program, little matters more than whether or not to implement testing on a random basis.  

In some cases, you may not have a choice.  Federal drug testing guidelines require employees who perform job functions governed by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to be subject to random testing for drugs and (sometimes) for alcohol as well.  Each DOT division, from the FMCSA for CDL drivers to the FAA for airline pilots has required minimum annual rates.

For all other non-regulated employers and organizations, a random drug testing program can be customized based on your specific needs.  You can determine when, how often, and how many to test. 

When used correctly, random testing can serve as a tremendous deterrent to drug use among employees, students, etc.  So how do you establish an effective program?  Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1) Don’t roll the dice – rather than draw names out of a hat or roll dice to see who gets tested, have a third party manage the whole process using a computer-based and legally-defensible random number generation program; the third party solution can protect against employee allegations that management is "rigging" the system.

2) Keep your lists updated – it’s important to send in complete and accurate lists to your testing agency in order to ensure the computer has the latest and most accurate data prior to making selections each time.

3) Keep ‘em guessing – one surefire way to diminish the value of random testing is to become too predictable.  If you always test on the first Monday of the month or the last Friday of the quarter, the element of surprise is gone, thus eliminating a critical element of an effective random testing program.

4) Be honest with employees – the intent of random testing is not to be a “gotcha” program. We don't know a single HR or Safety Manager who gets bonuses for positive drug tests. Communicate clearly to your employees the goals of your program - workplace safety, drug-free workplace, etc - through your policy, protocols, training, and education programs. If employees know what is expected and how the program works (not when the testing takes place!), random testing will work better.

5) "Random" doesn't mean "fair" – some employees who've been selected multiple times for testing will claim that it's unfair since some colleagues haven't yet been selected at all.  This can happen - the point of random testing is that it's not "fair" - there is no set rotation that's followed; in fact, it's... well, it's random. Imagine for a second that once an employee was tested, he/she couldn't be tested until everyone else was...the "deterrence" value would be gone since employee would know that there was a definite order to the testing.

Random testing can serve as a terrific reinforcement for your efforts to keep your workforce drug-free. For more information about random drug testing and how to achieve maximum deterrence, contact EDPM today by clicking here.  

In our next installment of this blog series, we'll consider Factor #5:  Disciplinary Consequences - what are some options for handling discipline related to failing drug tests and violating substance abuse policies.