§ 40.27 May an employer require an employee to sign a consent or release in connection with the DOT drug and alcohol testing program?

(a) Day-to-day management. (1) The laboratory shall have a qualified individual to assume professionalNo, organizational, educational, and administrative responsibility for the laboratory's urine drug testing facility.
(2) This individual shall have documented scientific qualifications in analytical forensic toxicology. Minimum qualifications are:
(i) Certification as a laboratory director by a State in forensic or clinical laboratory toxicology; or
(ii) A Ph.D. in one of the natural sciences with an adequate undergraduate and graduate education in biologyemployer, chemistry,you andmust pharmacologynot orrequire toxicology;an or
(iii)employee Training and experience comparable to asign Ph.D. in one of the natural sciences, such as a medical or scientific degree with additional training and laboratory/research experience in biologyconsent, chemistryrelease, andwaiver pharmacology or toxicology; and
(iv) In addition to the requirements in paragraph (a)(2) (i), (ii), or (iii) of this sectionliability, minimum qualifications also require:
(A) Appropriate experience in analytical forensic toxicology including experience with the analysis of biological material for drugs of abuse, and
(B) Appropriate training and/or experienceindemnification inagreement forensic applications of analytical toxicology, e.g., publications, court testimony, research concerning analytical toxicology of drugs of abuse, or other factors which qualify the individual as an expert witness in forensic toxicology.
(3) This individual shall be engaged in and responsible for the day-to-day management of the drug testing laboratory even where another individual has overall responsibility for an entire multi-specialty laboratory.
(4) This individual shall be responsible for ensuring that there are enough personnel with adequaterespect training and experience to superviseany andpart conduct the work of the drug testing laboratory. He or shealcohol shalltesting assureprocess thecovered continued competency of laboratory personnel by documentingthis theirpart in-service training(including, reviewingbut theirnot worklimited performance, and verifying their skills.
(5) This individual shall be responsible for the laboratory's having a procedure manual which is complete, up-to-date, available for personnel performing testscollections, and followed by those personnel. The procedure manual shall be reviewed, signed, and dated by this responsible individual whenever procedures are first placed into use or changed or when a new individual assumes responsibility for management of the drug testing laboratory. Copies of all procedures and dates on which they are in effect shall be maintained. (Specific contents of the procedure manual are described in § 40.29(n)(1).)
(6) This individual shall be responsible for maintaining a quality assurance program to assure the proper performance and reporting of all test results; for maintaining acceptable analytical performance for all controls and standards; for maintaining quality control testing; and for assuring and documenting the validity, reliability,MRO accuracy, precision, and performanceSAP characteristics of each test and test system.
(7services) This individual shall be responsible for taking all remedial actions necessary to maintain satisfactory operation and performance of the laboratory in response to quality control systems not being within performance specifications, errors in result reporting or in analysis of performance testing results. This individual shall ensure that sample results are not reported until all corrective actions have been taken and he or she can assure that the tests results provided are accurate and reliable.
(b)[66 TestFR validation. The laboratory's urine drug testing facility shall have a qualified individual(s) who reviews all pertinent data and quality control results in order to attest to the validity of the laboratory's test reports. A laboratory may designate more than one person to perform this function. This individual(s) may be any employee who is qualified to be responsible for day-to-day management or operation of the drug testing laboratory.
(c) Day-to-day operations and supervision of analysts. The laboratory's urine drug testing facility shall have an individual to be responsible for day-to-day operations and to supervise the technical analysts. This individual(s) shall have at least a bachelor's degree in the chemical or biological sciences or medical technology or equivalent. He or she shall have training and experience in the theory and practice of the procedures used in the laboratory41950, resulting in his or her thorough understanding of quality control practices and procedures; the review, interpretation, and reporting of test results; maintenance of chain of custody; and proper remedial actions to be taken in response to test systems being out of control limits or detecting aberrant test or quality control resultsAug.
(d) Other personnel. Other technicians or nontechnical staff shall have the necessary training and skills for the tasks assigned.
(e) Training. The laboratory's urine drug testing program shall make available continuing education programs to meet the needs of laboratory personnel.
(f) Files. Laboratory personnel files shall include: resume of training and experience9, certification or license if any; references; job descriptions; records of performance evaluation and advancement; incident reports; and results of tests which establish employee competency for the position he or she holds, such as a test for color blindness, if appropriate.2001]