On Monday, April 13, 2015, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), U.S. Department of Transportation published a final rule amending regulations in 49 CFR Part 40 – Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs. The rule allows use of electronic chain of custody and control forms (CCF) for DOT urine drug testing.

The CCF identifies a urine specimen and documents its handling. The current paper CCF is a 5-part carbonless form which provides a copy to the donor, employer, collector, MRO and the test facility. Mandated for DOT drug testing, the CCF is burdensome when compared to modern electronic CCF’s. With the amendment to the regulation, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)-certified laboratories can become approved through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) to use e-CCFs.

HHS-certified labs wishing to use the eCCFs must provide a detailed plan and propose standard operating procedures for SAMHSA to review and approve. Once the eCCF process is approved, the lab may use the eCCF for DOT drug testing, as well as the Federal Workplace Drug Testing Program. The employer must also ensure that security and confidentiality concerns are addressed, and will be required to follow eCCF procedures approved by SAMHSA. More information is available in the regulation, which can be found at this link: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-04-13/pdf/2015-08256.pdf

Our laboratories already have electronic chain of custody forms for all other drug tests and will submit for approval from SAMHSA for DOT purposes. Hire Image will keep you updated as eCCF becomes available.