Agency Alleges The Company Violated Drug And Alcohol Regulations

The FAA is proposing a $417,000 civil penalty against Tecom Industries, Inc. of Thousand Oaks, CA for violating federal drug and alcohol regulations.

Tecom Industries repairs and overhauls certain communications equipment used on commercial jets.

The FAA alleges the company failed to include 14 safety-sensitive employees in its random drug or alcohol testing pools for varying periods of time. All of these employees missed between one and seven random tests, and 12 of them performed safety-sensitive work when they were not in the random testing pool.

Additionally, the company allegedly received verified negative drug tests for 13 employees before transferring them from non-safety-sensitive positions to safety-sensitive positions. Eleven of these employees performed safety-sensitive work before Tecom received their verified negative tests.

The company also allegedly failed to:

• Comply with drug testing protocols, including failing to observe a return-to-duty drug test and four follow-up drug tests for an employee who had tested positive for amphetamines.
• Comply with a follow-up drug testing program for one employee as directed by a Substance Abuse Professional.
• Perform testing on the required minimum percentage of employees in 2012.
• Ask 10 employees whether, during the two years prior to being hired by Tecom, they had tested positive or refused to take a pre-employment drug or alcohol test for another company covered by DOT drug and alcohol testing rules.
• Remove two people from the random testing pool after they were no longer employed by Tecom.

“Drug and alcohol testing regulations are a critical element in the aviation safety process,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said. “It’s imperative for companies to follow them to ensure the highest safety standards are met.”

Tecom has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA’s Proposed Civil Penalty letter to respond to the agency.

FMI: www.faa.gov