Depending on the position you occupy, the Department is required to conduct reasonable suspicion drug testing, random drug testing, follow-up drug testing, accident drug testing, and drug testing of applicants for employees in certain testing designated positions. Your servicing human resources are the focal points for the drug-free workplace program. ________________________________________________________

Drug-Free Workplace Program (DFWP)

Certain positions in the Department are subject to drug testing. So, if you are tentatively selected for one of the following positions, applicant drug testing is required:

• Positions requiring Top Secret clearance or designated Special-Sensitive,
• Non-career Senior Executives,
• Schedule C,
• NOAA Corps Officer, NOAA Wage Marine personnel and rotating electronic technicians,
• Meteorologist positions involved in reporting for FAA air traffic control and at severe storms and hurricane warning centers,
• Positions involved in the management or operation of nuclear reactor facilities,
• Positions involving substantial service as an aircraft pilot or firefighter,
• Positions involving substantial service in drug interdiction,
• Positions requiring the carrying of firearms, and
• Aircraft or sheet metal mechanics, NOAA aircraft operations.

If you test positive, you may be denied an appointment to these positions.

Random Testing

You may also be subject to random drug testing once you occupy one of the drug-testing designated positions. If you are selected for a random drug test, your supervisor will verbally (and privately) inform you that you have been identified through a random selection process for drug testing by urinalysis and give you the time and exact location to report for testing.

If you are unavailable for the random drug test for legitimate reasons, such as working a different shift, on travel, or on leave, your test will be rescheduled.

Reasonable Suspicion Testing

Any employee may be subject to reasonable suspicion testing. This type of drug testing is authorized when management believes an employee is using illegal drugs or alcohol. This belief must be based on specific objective facts and reasonable inferences when any of the following conditions exist:

• Direct observation of drug use and/or the physical symptoms of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• A pattern of abnormal conduct or erratic behavior.
• Arrest or conviction for a drug-related offense; or the identification of an employee as the focus of a criminal investigation into illegal drug possession, use or trafficking.
• Information provided either by reliable and credible sources or independently corroborated.
• Newly discovered evidence that the employee has tampered with a previous drug test.

Management must have the concurrence of the Office of the General Counsel and the Human Resources Manager before scheduling this type of test.

For more information on the DOC drug-free workplace program, see the DOC Drug-Free Workplace Plan and Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace Testing Guide.

For more information on the web:

Visit http://workplace.samhsa.gov/home.asp to learn more about the Department of Health and Human Service program.

Visit http://www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/ to learn more about the Department of Transportation program.