Employers have a responsibility to keep the workplace positive and safe while remaining compliant with the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA), but drug testing policies and processes are different when it comes to the Department of Transportation (DOT) organizations and other Non-DOT organizations. For starters, DOT alcohol and drug testing is done under the authority of the Department of Transportation on a regulated employee that falls under the purview of safety-sensitive workers, while non-DOT alcohol and drug tests are typically carried out under an employer’s authority for organizations that are not regulated by the federal government. DOT testing includes random testing, pre-employment testing, post-incident testing, reasonable suspicion testing, return-to-duty testing and follow-up testing. Non-DOT testing rules are largely dictated by municipal and state laws, so it is common for employers to stick with DOT employee testing as opposed to making their own separate policy.
