The idea of a Reasonable Suspicion test sounds simple – someone suspects an employee of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and orders a test. In fact, there are quite a few rules that a company must follow to comply with DOT regulations for a Reasonable Suspicion test.

When we think of alcohol testing we usually visualize someone blowing into a mouthpiece mounted on a breath testing device. This typical method of alcohol testing is called a “direct” test. Some breath test devices have the capability of conducting a different kind of test called a “passive” test. When doing a passive alcohol test the individual does not blow into a mouthpiece, but instead blows towards the device.

Most collection sites perform a combination of DOT collections and non-DOT collections….

It seems the holy grail for some users of alcohol testing devices is a device with “no calibration needed.” The idea behind this thought is that calibration is a time consuming and complicated chore and life would be simpler if you did not have to do it….

Question:

“A donor provides an initial urine specimen that is insufficient in quantity. There is not enough specimen to reach the temperature strip on the container when the container is sitting flat on the table, so there is no reading on the temperature strip. The collector suspects it might be a “cold” specimen because the container lacks the warmth of a typical specimen. We know that a temp out of range specimen triggers a direct observation, but that the shy bladder procedure simply asks the donor to drink liquids and to try again. What do we do …?”

An MRO reviews laboratory drug test results to determine if there is a legitimate explanation for the presence of drugs in a person’s system (for example, prescription drugs taken under the supervision of a physician)….