2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 6 - Autonomous Municipalities (§§ 4001 — 4990-4990j) › Chapter 224 - Drug Testing to Detect Controlled Substances in the Workplace (§§ 4581 — 4599) › § 4581 - Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning stated below:
(a) Accident.— Is any fortuitous event or action resulting from an act or function of an employee which affects or endangers the health, safety or property of any natural or juridical person, as determined in federal or state jurisprudence.
(b) Drug or controlled substance.— Any drug or substance listed in Classifications I and II of § 2202 of Title 24, known as the “Puerto Rico Controlled Substances Act”, with the exception of the use of controlled substances by medical prescription or other legally authorized use.
(c) Liaison officer.— A qualified person designated by the mayor to assist in coordinating assistance to the employee and of the program established in each municipality, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(d) Official or employee.— Any person who renders career or trust, part-time, or irregular services for a wage, salary, day wage or any type of remuneration in any municipality, as defined in subsection (g) of this section, and any natural or juridical person that contracts his/her services with the municipality as a security guard.
(e) Laboratory.— Any public or private entity that is engaged in performing clinical or forensic, pathological, or toxicological analyses, which is duly authorized and licensed by the Secretary of Health and the Mental Health and Addiction Administration, that processes tests for the detection of controlled substances.
(f) Official Medical Reviewer (OMR).— A licensed physician who is responsible for receiving the laboratory results generated by a controlled substances detection program, who must have knowledge of the disorders caused by drug abuse, and has received medical training to interpret and evaluate positive results, taking into account the medical history of the person, and any other information that is pertinent from the medical point of view.
(g) Municipality.— The executive branch of the municipalities of Puerto Rico, its offices, departments, agencies, or bodies including the Municipal Legislature.
(h) Sample.— Refers to the sample of urine, blood, or any other bodily substance that the official or employee furnishes to be analyzed, which is determined to meet the criteria [for] reliability and precision accepted by the Federal Register for the Controlled Substances Detection Tests of the United States Department of Health, and the regulations of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
(i) Program.— The Prevention and Occupational Assistance Program established through regulations, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(j) Sensitive offices or positions.— Those that meet one or several of the following requirements: participation in the manufacturing, custody, handling, distribution and access of controlled substances; handling of, and access to dangerous, toxic, explosive or flammable material, or high voltage electric cables or equipment, and similar materials; school transportation and air, sea, or land transportation of passengers, cargo or heavy machinery and mechanics of said transportation or cargo vehicles; bearing, access to, or seizure of firearms; investigation or processing of criminal activity and juvenile delinquency, organized crime, situations of government corruption, and every situation that threatens municipal security; direct participation in the rendering of medical and first aid, rescue, or ambulance services; custody and direct rendering of supervisory and rehabilitation services for addicts, minors, victims of abuse, persons with disabilities, persons charged, convicted or confined; direct handling of highly confidential information referring to matters of public safety; direct relationship with gaming halls or casinos; working in the Office of the Mayor; be the official designated by the mayor to order the administration of tests, or be the Liaison officer; or any other position of high risk to the health, public safety or law and order, in which a minimum dysfunction of the physical or mental capacity of the official or employee could cause an incident or accident that would endanger the life or safety of other employees, the citizenry, or their own.
(k) Individualized reasonable doubt.— The moral conviction that a specific person is under the influence or is a habitual user of controlled substances, regardless of whether the fact is, or is not subsequently established. Said doubt should be based on observable and objective factors such as:
(1) Direct observation of the use or possession of controlled substances;
(2) physical symptoms that suggest being under the influence of a controlled substance;
(3) a repeated pattern of abnormal conduct or erratic behavior at work.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, added as § 12.002 on Jan. 10, 1999, No. 30, § 4.