Repeat Drug Testees Subject to ‘Direct Observation’

By: Matt Thurber

September 3, 2008
Safety, Maintenance and Modifications

The FAA has revised drug and alcohol testing procedures, specifically requiring “direct observation” in all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests. Effective November 1, observers of the testing must do the following: “As the observer, you must request the employee to raise his or her shirt, blouse or dress/skirt, as appropriate, above the waist; and lower clothing and underpants to show you, by turning around, that they do not have a prosthetic device.

After you have determined that the employee does not have such a device, you may permit the employee to return clothing to its proper position for observed urination. The FAA also issued a final rule effective August 25 on specimen validity testing.

Failure to cooperate by raising clothing above the waist, lowering clothing and underpants and turning around for the direct observation constitutes refusal to take the test. Although the direct observation rule is final, the FAA is accepting comments on that portion by September 25 (see www.regulations.gov, docket number OST-2003-15245).

Back

FSF Calls for Multinational Safety Probes March 18, 2010 Citing ongoing criminal prosecution of Continental Airlines for the 2000 Concorde crash in Paris, the U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation (FSF)... [more]
House Hearing Probes On-demand Charter Oversight March 18, 2010 During a House aviation subcommittee hearing yesterday on oversight of on-demand (Part 135) aircraft operators, DOT Inspector General Calvin... [more]
Bombardier Continues To Expand International Support March 17, 2010 Bombardier has scheduled five regional maintenance and operations conferences for this year. The Canadian OEM has a 20-year tradition of holding... [more]
MxPro Training Course Certified in China March 17, 2010 Hawker Beechcraft (HBC) and FlightSafety International have received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of China to conduct theoretical... [more]
Elliott Aviation Signs JSSI Service Center Agreement March 17, 2010 Moline, Ill.-based Elliott Aviation has signed a service center agreement with Jet Support Services (JSSI) to provide scheduled and unscheduled... [more]