Contracting with a third party administrator may cost more, but random selection appears more anonymous, agency administrative duties are limited and program start-up time is reduced. The written policy should include all the who, what, where, why and when of your controlled substance and alcohol program. Once the policy is adopted, each driver and supervisor should receive a copy and sign-off that they have received it. Contact your occupational health clinic or your physician used for pre-placement physicals for clinic references. If you use a third party administrator for your program, it will give you a list of testing sites near your agency.
Cost also plays a key role.
You cannot pull numbers out of a hat. Selection of drivers must be made by a scientifically valid method, such as a random number table of a computer-based random number generator. Commercial computer programs exist on the market that can perform random selections and record-keeping functions. If you decide to use a third party administrator, it will send you, on a quarterly basis, the names of individuals who need testing. Training All supervisors who oversee employees in this program must receive two hours of reasonable suspicion training.