Provisions in place to safeguard for 'false positives'
Laboratory employees provided more than 300 comments on the new substance abuse policy, which goes into effect today. The comments were reviewed and revisions were made to the policy, which applies to all Laboratory employees and subcontract personnel.
Many of the comments focused on protections to employees from "false positive" tests. “The new policy has safeguards for addressing false positives,” said Doris Heim, associate director for business services (ADBS). “If, for example, there is a medical explanation such as, ingestion of a prescription medication, and the employee can provide documentation (medical or pharmacy records), the drug test will be reported as negative. However, if there is no medical explanation for a positive test, the specimen is reported to Personnel Security (SEC-PSS6) as a confirmed positive.”
According to the policy, Personnel Security will notify employees selected for random testing. Workers who are on approved leave from the Laboratory will not be required to appear for a test on that day. A worker who fails to appear for a drug test will be treated in the same manner as if (s)he had tested positive for an illegal drug. It is understood that being called for a random test may be inconvenient, however, this element of unpredictability is required in order to guard the integrity of the testing process. A positive drug test will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
At an all-employee meeting last December, Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio announced that an enhanced substance abuse policy would be implemented. The enhanced policy, which incorporates employee comments and suggestions, includes
--Pre-employment drug testing for all LANL employees (excluding guests/affiliates) and subcontractors;
--Random drug testing for all LANL employees (excluding guests/affiliates) and subcontractors;
--Drug and/or alcohol testing on the basis of reasonable suspicion that the policy has been violated; and
--Drug and/or alcohol testing following an incident or accident that results in or has the potential to result in serious injury.
As suggested by employees, metrics and an assessment schedule are being developed to ensure effective implementation of the policy.
"The new substance abuse policy reflects today's environment and the need to take greater precautions to ensure a workplace that is safe, secure and demonstrates that we are worthy of our nation's trust," Anastasio said in an all-employee message.
The new policy -- IPP 732 -- can be found on the Policy Center Web page and replaces the previous substance abuse policy (AM110).
A set of frequently asked questions on the new policy also is available at http://int.lanl.gov/orgs/adbs/substanceabusepolicy.shtml online.
For more information, see the all-employee memo from Anastasio or contact Employee Relations at 7-8730 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
