SAFENET


SAFENET

Wildland Fire Safety & Health Reporting Network

SAFENET Event Information
Create Agency Response

SAFENET ID:
20200221-0001        [Corrective Actions]
Event Start Date:
02/19/2020 1400
Event Stop Date:
02/19/2020 1500 
Incident Name:
None
Fire Number:
 
State:
Colorado
Jurisdiction:
USFS
Local Unit:
Incident Type:
Training
Incident Activity:
Readiness/Preparedness
Stage of Incident:
Other
Position Title:
DAFMO 
Task:
Random Drug test 
Management Level:
N/A
Resources Involved:
Me 
Contributing Factors
Contributing Factors:
Environmental
Human Factors:
Decision Making  
Other Factors:
Administrative bureaucracy 
Narrative
Describe in detail what happened including the concern or potential issue, the environment (weather, terrain, fire behavior, etc), and the resulting health issue.
On Wednesday 2/19/2020 I was told I had to immediately report to a local Urgent Care center for a routine random drug test. I was healthy and without symptoms when I reported.

When I arrived at the facility I discovered appx 8 very obviously ill people in the waiting area. This is the apex of flu season and now I was exposed to a virus that has already killed over 10,000 adults and 105 children as of this writing...all for a random drug test.

I have an infant child at home and it bothers me that I could infect my child/family/co-workers with this illness, that I was now administratively exposed to, and had previously taken great care to avoid. Two days later I still feel no symptoms of any illness.
Immediate Action Taken
Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.
Failure to follow strict drug test regulations can result in disciplinary action.

I believe HRM needs to exercise some critical thought when sending employees to these crowded/sick clinics for tests, during flu pandemic season. The risk of exposure to a deadly virus outweighs any gain of a drug test outcome.


Discretion and prudence must be part of the decision making process.


Agency Response

20200221-0001-CA001

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