• A company can test employees after an accident when there is reason to believe drugs or alcohol contributed to the incident.
• Employers should not test after every accident as this can discourage accident reporting.
• Employers who test employees in retaliation for reporting a workplace injury or accident violate OSHA regulations.

A workplace accident or incident could lead a supervisor to suspect that a worker is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. The worker may have been driving erratically or working in an unsafe manner directly before the incident, leading to the suspicion that drug or alcohol use contributed to the cause. Perhaps the severity of the incident leads to the suspicion that the driver was impaired.

Justifying a post-accident test

If it is possible that drug or alcohol use contributed to a workplace accident, a reasonable suspicion drug test is justified. However, rather than having a blanket policy requiring testing after all accidents or incidents, an employer should consider the nature of the situation.

The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) prohibits employers from using drug testing, or the threat of drug testing, to discourage employees from reporting injuries and illnesses that occur at work. It impacts post-accident drug testing when an injury occurs.

The rule allows many types of drug testing, but a test should be avoided when there is no possibility that alcohol or drug use was a contributing factor. For example, if a ceiling tile breaks loose and falls on an employee, it would be very hard to justify giving the employee a drug or alcohol test. There is no reason to suspect that alcohol or drug use contributed to that accident. This type of situation shows why it is risky to have a blanket drug testing policy.

Conducting a drug test to evaluate the root cause of a workplace incident is allowed under the rule. An employer could conduct a post-accident test if an employee’s behavior may have had an effect on the incident. For example, if a forklift operator is injured in an accident, a drug test could be conducted if the employee’s actions contributed to the injury.

Who to test after an accident

An employer should test all employees whose conduct may have had a role in a workplace accident or incident, not only the employees who reported injuries.

If a bystander’s actions could have contributed to an accident, the bystander should be tested as well.

Problematic post-accident tests

A post-accident drug test would violate the law if an employer conducted the test to penalize an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness rather than to promote workplace safety and health.

Most drug testing allowed under OSHA rule

The Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule does not prohibit drug testing, and the agency recognizes that most employers conduct drug testing to promote worker safety and health.

The department notes that evidence that an employer consistently enforces legitimate work rules demonstrates that the employer is serious about creating a culture of safety.