Federal watchdog report finds 'weaknesses' in drug, alcohol testing for rail engineers, workers

A newly released federal watchdog report has found numerous “weaknesses” in the Federal Railroad Administration’s mandatory drug-and-alcohol testing plans – including problems with the FRA’s review and approval of the plans and “outdated” oversight. 

The department’s Office of Inspector General report audited 102 FDA drug and alcohol testing plans for engineers and other workers – finding 51% of those reviewed and approved by the FDA were incomplete and failed to include key regulatory elements.

The audit comes amid a recent increase in the percentage of railway workers testing positive for drug use and more long-standing findings of illicit drug use when investigating fatal rail accidents, the report released Wednesday also states.

Among the deadliest and more recent accidents was an April  2016 crash outside of Philadelphia in which an Amtrak train slammed into a backhoe belonging to the train service, killing two operators and injuring 35 passengers.

The cause of the accident was an apparent miscommunication about the backhoe being on the tracks. However, a toxicology report found that one of the backhoe operators had cocaine in his system and the other tested positive for morphine, codeine and oxycodone. The 47-year-old train engineer tested positive for marijuana.

Amtrak services roughly 31.7 million passengers annually. The FDA regulates essentially all passenger and freight rail travel in the United States. After the 2016 accident, the agency began requiring random urine drug screenings for some rail maintenance employees.

“Preventing accidents in railroad operations that result from employees’ illicit drug and/or alcohol impairment is critical to ensuring the safety of the traveling public,” David Pouliott, a Transportation Department assistant inspector general, said in the 24-page report. “FRA has not adequately reviewed and approved railroads’ drug and alcohol testing plans as required or documented its review and approval process.. … Furthermore, FRA procedures do not fully meet its drug and alcohol testing compliance audit goals.”

Among the other findings in the IG report – titled “Oversight Weaknesses Limit FRA’s Review, Approval, and Enforcement of Railroads’ Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs” – was that the agency lacked a follow-up process after compliance audits and that its guidance for overseeing drug-and-alcohol testing compliance is "outdated and does not reflect current regulations."

“FRA has taken steps to oversee whether railroads are complying with federal drug and alcohol testing requirements,” Pouliott also wrote. “However, without documenting its review and approval procedures and following up on action items issued during its compliance audits, FRA cannot reasonably ensure that railroads are taking all of the actions needed to effectively detect and prevent impaired workers and maintain safety.” 

The IG report included four recommendations: including the development of written procedures for reviewing and approving compliance plans and updating drug-and-alcohol-program guidance for railroads and inspectors to reflect the change after the fatal 2016 crash.

The inspector general’s office delivered the report to the FRA on March 11. The agency responded April 14, concurred with all the recommendations and proposed actions and completion dates.