C.R. England and drug-testing facility Omega Laboratories have announced a drug screening partnership that will test the hair samples of driver applicants. The companies say the program will enhance England’s pre-employment drug screening process.
“The industrywide impact of being able to conduct a pre-employment drug test that reviews a longer screening history is a tremendous improvement over the current federally mandated requirements,” says Dustin England, vice president of safety and compliance for C.R. England. “With hair testing, we are able to detect months of time rather than the handful of days checked with standard urine tests. We found our hair testing positive rate was over three times higher than the required DOT urine test alone.”
During the trial, both urine and hair samples were collected. After a year of research, the management team at C.R. England became convinced that hair testing was a superior methodology for pre-employment drug screening and offered a more effective screening process than urine testing. England will continue to conduct standard urine drug testing for all applicants as required by DOT.
C.R. England says results of the trial program show its effectiveness; out of 2,000 candidates, more than 150 tested positive that otherwise would have passed the current federally-mandated testing. In total, more than 11 percent tested positive with hair testing, versus 2.8 percent testing positive with DOT urine testing.
C.R. England says that through hair testing, it can better control the quality of successful applicants for its four driving schools. “Knowing we can keep more potentially dangerous drivers off the roads is a great feeling,” England says. “That is why we are now firm believers in the benefits of hair testing for the transportation industry.”
