Expanded Drug Testing for Federal Workers Is Proposed

The hair, saliva and sweat of federal workers could be tested for drug use under a government policy proposed Tuesday that could set screening standards for millions of private employers.

The proposal would expand the methods to detect drug use among 1.6 million federal workers beyond urine samples.

It is being carried out with an eye toward the private sector, however, because it would signal the government’s approval for such testing, which many companies are awaiting before adopting their own screening programs.

The rule is subject to 90 days of public comment. A final plan could be issued by year’s end.

About 400,000 federal workers -- those who have security clearances, carry firearms, are involved in national security or are presidential appointees -- must undergo testing. Others are tested only if they show signs of drug use or are involved in a work-related accident.

“What we think is going to happen with the introduction of alternative specimens is, it’s going to make it much tougher for individuals to be able to adequately prepare and to avoid detection,” said Robert Stephenson, director of the workplace programs division in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

However, the number of federal workers who attempt to defraud urine tests is “virtually zero,” Stephenson said. The positive rate for federal workers has fallen to less than 0.5% from 18% early in the program, which began in 1986 when President Reagan issued an executive order declaring that the federal workforce must be drug-free.

“We expect other interested parties to use the same standards and benefit from the quality assurance procedures and certification of laboratories and products that we are in fact putting out there for federal employees,” Stephenson said.

About 95% of the government’s testing is conducted by private companies, he said.

The testing industry was involved in creating the plan, but unions representing federal employees were not. The National Treasury Employees Union, with members in 29 agencies, has opposed sweat tests, claiming scientific studies have shown they are unreliable.

“One of the things we would want to look at closely ... is the issue of how reliable and accurate these new tests will be, and to ensure that federal employees will not suffer from a high degree of false positives or other scientific shortfalls,” said Colleen M. Kelley, the union’s president.

Stephenson said the proposal was based on scientific evidence that hair, saliva and sweat specimens can be tested “with the same level of confidence that has been applied to the use of urine.”