OSHA Compliance: New Drug & Alcohol Testing Regulations

January 16, 2017 | Staffing Blog

At Allegiance Staffing, we like to keep you up to date on the latest OSHA compliance rules and regulations. As of December 1st, 2016, there’s a change to the laws that govern drug and alcohol testing after workplace accidents, prohibiting companies from giving employees tests after accidents in most circumstances. The purpose of the law is to ensure that employees feel safe in filing accident reports at work under any circumstances.

Here are the parts of the law important to workplaces:

• In standard workplace accidents, workplaces can’t drug or alcohol test an employee after he or she makes a work-related accident report.
• It’s illegal to test an employee after a work-related accident report as a matter of policy, even if you know the employee uses recreational drugs or used regulated medical marijuana or prescription medication.
• Companies are not allowed to drug test after every work-related accident report as a matter of procedure.
• Workplaces may only give a drug and alcohol test if they have an “objectively reasonable basis” to believe drugs or alcohol contributed to the accident.

Here’s what your workplace to do to ensure compliance to the most recent laws:

• If your company currently requires drug and alcohol testing after any workplace accident report, eliminate and change the rule to comply with new OSHA guidelines.
• Create written documentation in your policy handbook regarding what constitutes an “objectively reasonable basis” for drug and alcohol testing at the workplace.
• Make sure supervisory staff and management receives training on the policy and consistently enforces it.

As a reputable and trained staffing agency, it’s our job to stay current on the latest changes to OSHA compliance policy and help ensure you follow these procedures with your employees. Contact us for help and information about how we ensure you keep current with OSHA when you work with us.