La. Admin. Code tit. 40 § I-1505

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section I-1505 - Specimen Collection Procedures

A. Collection Site

1. The collection site is a place where individuals present themselves for the purpose of providing urine, blood, breath or other specimens to be analyzed for abuse of drugs, including alcohol. The site must possess all necessary personnel, materials, equipment, facilities, and supervision to provide for the collection, security, temporary storage, and transportation (shipping) of specimens to a drug testing laboratory.

2. Procedures must provide for the collection site to be secure. Proper chain of custody procedures must be executed by collectors when handling specimens. The handling and transportation of specimens from one authorized individual or place to another must always be accomplished through the use of chain of custody procedures.

B. Collection Procedures

1. Procedures for providing specimens must allow reasonable privacy but may require a witness to prevent substitutions, contamination or adulteration of the specimen to be provided. Employers must take precautions to ensure that a specimen has not been adulterated, contaminated, or substituted during the collection procedure and that all information on the collection container and in the chain of custody form can be identified as belonging to a given individual. To ensure that unadulterated specimens are obtained, the following procedures outline the minimum precautions that shall be taken during the collection of specimens, in noncritical, ambulatory accident related testing.

a. At the collection site, if the specimen to be collected is urine, toilet bluing agents shall be placed in the toilet tanks, wherever possible, so that the reservoir of water in the toilet bowl always remains blue. The possibility of adulteration, substitution or contamination from other sources of water (e.g., shower, sink, etc.) in the enclosure where urination occurs should be prevented whenever possible.

b. Upon arrival at the collection site, the collector shall request the individual to present some type of photo identification. If the individual does not have proper identification, this shall be noted on the chain of custody form.

c. The collector shall ask the individual to remove any unnecessary outer garments (e.g., coat, jacket) that might conceal items or substances that could be used to tamper with or adulterate his/her specimen. Also, all personal belongings (e.g., purse, briefcase) must remain with the outer garments; the individual may, however, retain his/her wallet. The collector shall note any unusual behavior or appearance.

d. After washing his/her hands, the individual shall remain in the presence of the collector and not have access to water fountains, faucets, soap dispensers, or cleaning agents.

e. In a nonwitnessed collection, the individual may provide his/her specimen in the privacy of a stall or otherwise partitioned area that allows for individual privacy. The collector shall note any unusual behavior by the individual.

f. After the specimen has been provided and submitted to the collector, the individual should be allowed to wash his/her hands.

g. If the collection is nonwitnessed, immediately after collection, the collector shall measure the temperature of the specimen and conduct an inspection to determine the specimen's color and signs of contaminants. Any unusual findings resulting from the inspection must be included on the chain of custody form. If the temperature of the specimen is outside the range of 32.5-37.7°C/90.5-99.8°F, this gives rise to reasonable suspicion of adulteration/substitution, and another specimen should be collected, and both specimens shall be properly labeled and forwarded to the laboratory.

h. Both the individual being tested and the collector should keep the specimen in view at all times prior to its being sealed and labeled. If the specimen is transferred to a second container, the collector shall request the individual to observe the transfer of the specimen and the placement of a tamperproof seal over the container cap and down the sides of the container. The collector will place the identification label securely on the container.

i. The identification label should contain the date, employee's name, and any other identifying information provided/required by the employer. The tested individual shall initial the label on the specimen container. If the individual refuses to initial the label, this fact must be noted by the collector on the chain of custody form.

j. The collector shall complete the appropriate chain of custody form. The individual shall be asked to read and sign a certification statement regarding his/her specimen and be given an opportunity to provide notification of any information which the individual considers relevant to the test, including identification of currently or recently used prescription or nonprescription drugs, or other relevant medical information.

k. After the above procedures, the specimen and chain of custody form are now ready for shipment. If the specimen is not immediately prepared for shipment, it must be appropriately secured during temporary storage.

l. In the event blood is required, it should be collected in a tube containing sodium fluoride as a preservative. To insure no adulteration of the blood specimen, alcohol shall not be used as a disinfectant, but betadine, or its nonalcoholic equivalent, shall be used.

2. Note: During the performance of any part of the chain of custody procedures, it is essential that the specimen and custody documents be under the control of the involved collector.

a. If the collector must leave his/her work station momentarily, the specimen and custody form must be taken with him/her, or must be secured. After the collector returns to the work station, the custody process will continue. If the collector is leaving for an extended period of time, he/she should package the specimen for mailing prior to leaving the site.

b. If the specimen is to be collected from a critical, nonambulatory or unconscious employee, the collection procedures shall be left to the discretion of the treating medical provider, and shall reasonably preclude adulteration, contamination or substitution. After the patient's condition is stabilized and the patient is conscious, he/she shall be asked to read and sign a certification statement regarding his/her specimen, and be given an opportunity to provide notification of any information which the individual considers relevant to the test, including identification of currently or recently used prescription or nonprescription drugs, or other relevant medical information.

C. Collection Control. Collectors shall always attempt to have the specimen or specimen container within sight before and after the collection. The containers shall be tightly capped, properly sealed, and labeled. A chain of custody form shall be utilized for maintaining control and accountability from point of collection to final disposition of specimens. With each transfer of possession, the chain of custody form shall be dated, signed by the individual releasing the specimen, signed by the individual accepting the specimen, and shall note the purpose for transferring possession. Every effort should be made to minimize the number of persons handling specimens.

D. Transportation to Laboratory. After collection of specimens, collectors shall arrange to ship the specimens to the drug testing laboratory. The specimens shall be placed in appropriate containers (specimen boxes or padded mailers) that are securely sealed to eliminate the possibility or tampering. Collectors shall sign and date across the tape sealing the containers and ensure that the chain of custody documentation is attached to each sealed container. An outer mailing wrapper shall be placed around each sealed container. Specimens may be delivered to the drug testing laboratory using either the United States Postal Service, commercial air freight, air express, or may be handcarried. It is unnecessary to send specimens by registered mail.

La. Admin. Code tit. 40, § I-1505

Promulgated by the Department of Employment and Training, Office of Workers' Compensation, LR 16:851 (October 1990), repromulgated LR 17:773 (August 1991).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 23:1081(9).