WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation is putting motor carriers and Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs) on notice that the SAP role as “gatekeeper” for returning drivers to the road following a safety violation is having serious procedural lapses.
Ina notice published on Tuesday, DOT revealed a trend of “fast-tracked” evaluations and improper remote assessments, along with pressure to prescribe only minimum drug and alcohol follow-up testing.
“SAPs represent the major decision point (and in some cases, the only decision point) an employer may have in choosing whether or not to place an employee behind the steering wheel of a school bus, in the cockpit of a plane, at the helm of an oil tanker, at the throttle of a train, in the engineer compartment of a subway car, or at the emergency control valves of a natural gas pipeline,” DOT’s notice stated.
For motor carriers – for which SAPs are required to report specific information to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse – the message is a warning that using an SAP who prioritizes volume over quality is a compliance issue that could result in liability and safety hazards.
“The decisions SAPs make and the actions SAPs take regarding an employee who has violated the DOT drug or alcohol regulations have the potential to impact transportation safety. There is no room for error in this process by DOT-qualified SAPs, nor for non-qualified SAPs to act as DOT-qualified SAPs.”
DOT noted it has recently become aware of issues related to SAPs’ roles and responsibilities. The department found, for example, that SAPs were:
- Making it difficult for employers to receive follow-up testing plans.
- Referring employees solely to online programs as opposed to in-person programs as appropriate.
- Prescribing the minimum number of follow up tests in response to pressure from consortium/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) to only prescribe the minimum number of follow up tests or risk being removed from the C/TPA’s list of recommended SAPs.
- Neglecting to hold an appropriate credential to act as a DOT-qualified SAP.
- Performing the RTD process in a very short timeframe to get the employee back to work quicker.
- Going outside their credential’s geographical limit to perform remote evaluations.
- Performing remote evaluations without real time two-way audio and visual communication with the employee.
DOT’s notice highlighted the “general role and functions” of SAPs included within federal regulations, emphasizing a list of potential violations.
“SAPs should not provide employees with an estimated RTD timeline because each employee’s situation is different,” DOT cautioned. “SAPs should not ‘fast-track’ the RTD process with a promise to get the employee back to performing safety-sensitive functions as soon as possible. Each employee’s situation is unique, and the RTD process will progress accordingly.”
In addition, “you must never give the employee a copy of their follow-up testing plan. You should also instruct the employer not to share the follow-up testing plan with the employee.”
