DOT Breath Alcohol Testing: What a Compliant Program Needs

DOT workplace alcohol testing runs on 49 CFR Part 40, and every piece of the program is auditable: who ran the test, on what device, with what calibration history, on which form. Here are the moving parts employers and clinics have to get right.

A qualified BAT — trained to §40.213

Screening and confirmation tests must be run by a Breath Alcohol Technician qualified under 49 CFR §40.213: qualification training on the device they'll use, a proficiency demonstration of seven consecutive error-free mock tests in front of a qualified monitor, refresher training at least every five years, and error-correction training within 30 days when a test they ran is cancelled for a correctable flaw.

Foster runs BAT technician, refresher, and train-the-trainer courses on the Intoxilyzer instruments we sell and service.

An evidential breath tester on the conforming list

Confirmation tests require an evidential breath tester (EBT) on NHTSA's conforming products list — instruments like the Intoxilyzer line — capable of printing results and assigning sequential test numbers. Screening can use an EBT or an approved screening device, but confirmation is EBT-only.

The 15-minute confirmation rule

A screening result of 0.02 or higher triggers a confirmation test, which must begin no sooner than 15 minutes after the screening result (the deprivation period that rules out mouth alcohol) and, per Part 40's procedures, should begin within 30 minutes. The BAT documents the wait — skipping or shortcutting it is a classic audit finding.

Calibration checks and the QAP

Every EBT operates under its manufacturer's quality assurance plan: external calibration checks with an ethanol standard — dry-gas cylinders with a regulator are the workhorse — at the intervals the QAP prescribes, plus documented calibration when a check falls outside tolerance. No current calibration trail, no defensible result. This is the same instrument-level discipline covered in audiometer calibration requirements.

Foster stocks the ethanol gas standards (0.040, 0.080, 0.100 BAC), regulators, mouthpieces, and printer supplies that keep an Intoxilyzer program running, and calibrates and repairs the instruments themselves.

The right form, filled the right way

DOT tests go on the DOT Alcohol Testing Form; non-DOT company-policy tests should use a non-DOT form so the two programs never mix. Copies get distributed exactly as the form prescribes, and results of 0.02 or greater carry immediate duty-removal consequences the DER has to act on.

Intoxilyzer instruments, dry-gas standards, forms, and mouthpieces — plus BAT technician and train-the-trainer courses and instrument calibration, from one partner. Explore breath alcohol solutions.