Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs)

The Role Of Substance Abuse Professionals In The DOT: SAPS serve in an impartial role, and do not advocate specifically for either the employer or employee. Their job is to evaluate whether or not your drug/alcohol test failure should keep you out of the seat of an 80,000 pound vehicle.

SAPs represent the major decision point (and in some cases the only decision point) an employer may have in choosing whether or not to place an employee behind the steering wheel of a school bus, in the cockpit of a plane, at the helm of an oil tanker, at the throttle of a train, in the engineer compartment of a subway car, or at the emergency control valves of a natural gas pipeline.

Their function is to protect the public interest in safety by professionally evaluating the employee and recommending appropriate education and/or treatment, follow-up tests, and aftercare.

Credentials For SAP's: Substance abuse professionals are required to be either doctors, or social workers/counselors, or professionals otherwise certified by recognized organizations.

You cannot be a SAP unless you are a licensed physician (Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy); or a licensed or certified social worker; or a licensed or certified psychologist; or a licensed or certified employee assistance professional; or a state-licensed or certified marriage and family therapist; or an alcohol and drug abuse counselor certified by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Certification Commission (NAADAC), or by the International Certification Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (ICRC), or by the National Board of Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates/Master Addictions Counselor (NBCC).

Knowledge Required Of SAP's: SAPS must be experienced in the realm of substance abuse and treatment, especially DOT testing and evaluation procedures, and should have gone through significant further education on the subject.

SAPS must have knowledge of and clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of substance abuse-related disorders. You cannot be a SAP without understanding how the SAP role relates to the special responsibilities employers have for ensuring the safety of the traveling public. Nor can you be a SAP unless you are well informed about Part 40 PART 40 - Procedures For Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs, pertinent DOT agency regulations, these SAP guidelines, and any significant changes to them. It is important to note that your degrees and certificates alone do not confer to you these knowledge requirements.