This session provides information on avoiding many of the common drug and alcohol-related mistakes that can subject companies to enforcement action, typically in the form of civil penalties. These include hiring employees before receipt of a verified negative drug test result, having an incomplete understanding of which employees are performing safety-sensitive functions, moving people in and out of a random testing pool, what happens when employees are hired, leave a company and are subsequently re-hired, the potential effects of corporate acquisitions on pre-employment drug testing requirements, failure to conduct prior DOT employer records checks and how these relate to a new employee’s ability to continue working pending receipt of information from those prior employers, the use of employees in both safety-sensitive and non-safety-sensitive roles (such as maintenance and manufacturing), the importance of separating DOT (including different DOT modal administrations) and company policy testing, the voluntary disclosure reporting program (VDRP) and how the process for self-disclosing in a drug and alcohol matter differs from submitting them through the Flight Standards VDRP electronic portal and the integration of drug and alcohol testing requirements with those in 14 CFR part 145 as well as with a company’s HR department.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will have the tools to understand:

•       Where the biggest potential enforcement exposure exists for drug and alcohol testing violations

•       How to avoid these situations

•       How to integrate your company’s drug and alcohol testing program with your repair station and quality control manual(s) and the policies of your HR department

Target Audience

Anyone working in aviation, particularly those employers and contractors performing safety-sensitive functions for U.S. air carriers and certain other operators in the United States.

Materials Note: The materials for this session include a May 2017 Legal Interpretation clarifying that employees performing tasks solely related to receiving articles for stock are not performing a safety sensitive function under part 120 and should not be included in a testing pool.