Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The new testing requirements, which went into effect Sunday for companies with more than 50 employees, will affect 7.4million workers and are expected to cost the industry $200million annually.
The regulations order that alcohol tests - previously required only after a railroad or maritime accident - be administered on a random basis, before hiring, when an employer has reasonable suspicion and when suspended employees return to work after rehabilitation.
Under the new mandate, drug tests - which have been conducted on truckers and railroaders under these circumstances for several years - will be expanded to all workers with a commercial driver's license.
In the Roanoke Valley, a number of public employees fall under the stepped-up guidelines, including sanitation workers, drivers of parks and recreation vehicles, electrical workers and school bus drivers.
The regulations are a classic example of an unfunded mandate. The federal government, which ordered the tests, won't do them. The cost will fall instead on local governments and companies.
Roanoke plans to spend at least $33,147 on testing its employees this year, said Ken Cronin, manager of the Department of Personnel Management. According to Cronin, the city employs 250 workers with commercial driver licenses, not including school bus drivers, who are supervised by the School Board.
"The regulations will have a pretty substantial financial impact," Cronin said. "On the other hand, we want to do everything we can to make sure our drivers are as safe as possible and that they are drug- and alcohol-free."
The new federal regulations require that 50 percent of these employees be tested for drug use each year and 25 percent undergo alcohol testing. The guidelines include provisions that reduce drug testing to 25 percent of the employee pool if the number of positive tests in an industry - not just in a particular company - remains below 1 percent. The rail and airline industries already are benefiting from that.
The city has contracted with Lewis-Gale Clinic to conduct much of the testing, but the city's occupational health division will handle some tests, Cronin said.
Roanoke County and Salem also have geared up to comply with the regulations. The county, which employs 75 commercially licensed drivers, has contracted with Safety and Compliance Service for the drug and alcohol testing, risk manager Bob Jernigan said.
Roughly 55 county drivers will be tested for drugs, alcohol or both each year at a minimum rate of $39 per drug test and $25 per alcohol test, Jernigan said. Those costs do not include confirmation tests or follow-up participation in the Employee Assistance Program, he said.
Salem has not yet determined what agency will handle its testing. But David Rorer, professional standards and crime-prevention officer with the Salem Police Department, said the city held training sessions throughout December to prepare its employees and supervisors for the new regulations. Salem employs 79 commercially licensed drivers and 35 supervisors who could be affected, Rorer said.
Private-sector businesses are subject to the regulations as well. Norfolk Southern Corp., which has had drug testing in place for years, estimates it will spend $90,000 nationally to test about 14,000 railroad workers for alcohol use, a railroad spokesman said.
And trucking companies, under the banner of the American Trucking Association, have rallied against some of the tests, which they argue are ineffective.
The ATA has a lawsuit pending in federal court in Richmond protesting the pre-employment alcohol screenings.
"We believe that these tests end up being a stupidity test because it is unlikely someone would show up to a job interview drunk," explained Stephen Campbell, vice president of safety for ATA. "We also do not have a documentable history of alcohol problems and truck drivers."
Partly because of the pending lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Friday that it will postpone the implementation of the pre-employment alcohol testing until May. New equipment recently was approved for the alcohol breath tests, but the department has not had time to draw up instructions, a Transportation Department spokeswoman said.
Companies with fewer than 50 employees, including Valley Metro in Roanoke, have until Jan. 1, 1996, to comply with the drug- and alcohol-testing mandates.
by CNB