ODAPC Updated COVID Guidelines In May of 2020, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance published guidelines for SAPs, service agents and MROs regarding providing services amid the COVID pandemic. In the past two years these guidelines have been updated several times, with the latest update issued on June 15, 2022. In the […]

To answer this question, you must first answer the question, “How long does alcohol remain in the body?” A widely held impression is that alcohol stays in the system for a long time. However, alcohol is eliminated very quickly from the body. In fact, it eliminates at a constant rate of about .015% BAC per […]

An MRO Assistant, also known as an MRO-A or MRO Team Member, is someone who assists the MRO (Medical Review Officer) with certain MRO duties, including organizing and reporting of DOT and non-DOT urine drug screen test results to the employee and employer. To perform those tasks well requires the MRO Assistant to have knowledge […]

Safe Injection Facilities on the Rise? New York City just opened the first sanctioned Safe Injection Facilities in December. A safe injection facility provides needles and a space for addicts to inject their drugs in a safe environment. The addicts bring their own drugs to the facilities; the facilities provide sterile needles but not drugs. […]

Marijuana Impaired Driving: Another Look Four years ago we wrote a blog article “Facts About Marijuana Impaired Driving”, which made several interesting points: • There is no correlation between THC levels and impairment • Several states have passed laws that use THC levels to define driving while impaired by marijuana • There is no conclusive evidence […]

The DER’s Role in Drug and Alcohol Testing The Designated Employer Representative (DER) plays a vital role in drug and alcohol testing, serving as the point of contact for their company’s testing program. Every company with safety-sensitive employees falling under the authority of the Dept. of Transportation must appointment a DER. The DER’s role is […]

Record Increase in Drug Overdose Deaths, Big Pharma Settles In our last blog article about the X-Waiver we said experts predicted that drug overdose deaths had increased during the COVID pandemic. Recent reports confirmed these predictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdose deaths increased by 30% in 2020, a total […]

The Perfect Storm One of the consequences of the Covid pandemic that we have experienced for the past year is an increase in drug and opioid use and correspondingly an increase in overdose deaths. The reasons for this are several and easy to see. The economic lockdown and restrictions on gathering in groups limited social […]

What’s the Difference Between a DOT and Non-DOT Drug Test? In order to best explain the differences between a DOT and non-DOT drug test, we first should clarify two terms often used in drug testing; regulated and non-regulated workplace testing. Having a firm grasp on the nomenclature is principal to administering the programs as intended. […]

What is Customer Effort and Why Does it Matter? Before a company can structure a meaningful and ultimately successful customer experience or customer service program, they must first consider customer effort across all company departments. But what is customer effort and why is it important? In short, customer effort is the amount of time and […]