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TOP-DRUGS: Drug & Alcohol Policy

REV:04/14/03

SCOPE: This procedure covers the implementation of Trinity Forge's drug-free, alcohol-free workplace policy.

Since in our working environment, employees who engage in the use, sale, or distribution of drugs and/or alcohol constitute a danger to their fellow employees, the company is implementing the following drug/alcohol policy. All applicants must pass a drug screening test before becoming eligible for employment and current employees must comply with the policy as a condition for continued employment.   It is prohibited to possess, buy, sell, or distribute illegal drugs or alcohol on company premises. A confirmed positive test that alcohol or an illegal substance is in your system while you are on the job is a violation of the company's drug and alcohol policy. Likewise, a confirmed positive test that you have used illegal drugs during your employment with Trinity Forge is a violation of the policy. If you are found in possession of alcohol or illegal drugs on company premises, you will be suspended immediately for two weeks and you may be turned over to the authorities. Reinstatement will only be considered after careful review of each individual case.

This policy does not alter the "Employment At Will" nature of employment at Trinity Forge, Inc.

1. All applicants for employment are tested by hair or nail sampling. The Human Resources Manager may waive this requirement for returning former employees who have been actively employed at Trinity Forge within the past six months and who have no record of having ever violated the company drug policy.
2. All employees are subject to random hair/nail testing as well as occasional urine testing.
3. Any employee involved in an accident which requires outside medical attention is tested. The injured employee is typically tested by urine sampling while at the medical facility, but if that testing is not performed, he/she is tested afterwards by hair/nail sampling. Other employees involved in the circumstances that lead to the accident are also tested by urine/hair/nail sampling
4. If a supervisor or other manager suspects an employee of being under the influence of drugs, he/she reports that employee to the Human Resources Manager. If the Human Resource Manager agrees, the employee is taken to a medical facility and is tested as appropriate for the suspected substance.
5. If a supervisor or other manager suspects an employee of being under the influence of alcohol, he/she reports that employee to the Human Resources Manager. If the Human Resources Manager  agrees, the employee is taken to a medical facility and tested as appropriate.
6. Second shift supervisors who suspect an employee to be under the influence of alcohol must seek out a supervisor from the other division, and if both agree, then the employee is taken to the Emergency Room at Huguley and tested as appropriate.

Hair/nail testing involves removing a small sample of a person's hair (a clump about 1/8" in diameter and at least 1.5" long ) or clippings of the fingernails, then sending the sample to a specialized laboratory for processing to determine whether any of a list of drugs was abused during the time the hair/nail sample was growing. Where the employee has sufficient head hair to provide the sampling, the Accounting Manager or the Human Resources Manager removes the hair sample. Where head hair is not sufficient for testing, fingernails may be substituted. For reference, a typical hair sample represents a time period covering roughly one to fourteen weeks prior to the sampling date. Bodily hair or nails may grow at a different rate from head hair and thus may represent a different time frame. A person who at time of sampling is found to have failed to maintain enough hair or nails for sampling will be treated as if he/she had received a positive testing result, unless there are medical reasons for the lack of hair certified by the company doctor.

Urine testing involves giving a specimen at a medical facility exactly as is done as part of a physical exam. The specimen is then tested for a list of drugs. This type of test is fairly easily bluffed. Trinity Forge only utilizes urine-only testing for employees injured on the job, and then only if the sample is taken at the medical facility immediately after the accident and if the employee is not suspected of being under the influence of alcohol.

A random drug testing cycle is performed each week based on the previous week's closing Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) as published in the Wall Street Journal. The methodology for converting the DJIA into the details of the week's testing is provided by the Drug Testing Plan. This plan is a document, updated once a year to prevent its becoming "predictable," comprised of a formula and a computer-generated random number list. The President generates the Drug Testing Plan, approves it for use over a certain future date range, and provides it to the Controller (or Accounting Manager) prior to the stock market closing yielding the first DJIA to be matched to the plan. The plan's formula directs how the number of people to be tested and the types of testing to be performed is to be determined from the units digit of the DJIA. The random number list identifies up to ten "people" (specifically which line numbers of a current alphabetical list of employees) to be tested for each of the 100 possible combination of digits to the right of the decimal point in the DJIA. The Accounting Manager takes the plan each week, compares it to the previous week's closing DJIA and a current alphabetical roster of employees, produces a Drug Test List and presents it to the Human Resource Manager. The Human Resource Manager adds any "supervisor suspicion" employees to the Drug Test List. Any employee selected for random hair/nail testing who has already received a hair/nail test within the last 90 days is removed from the list. Each employee on the list (except for those off premises for the entire week the Drug Test List is provided) is taken for sampling that week or the following week at the Human Resource Manager's convenience. An employee may not be notified that testing is to take place until it is time to go for taking the sample.

The following is a description of the typical procedures for handling drug- and alcohol-related violations of company policy and in no way restricts the employment-at-will relationship between Trinity Forge and its employees ... any employee may be terminated at any time at the discretion of the company. "Testing positive" refers to receiving a positive test result for an illegal drug or judgment-impairing drug for which there is no documented medical explanation. "Prior incident" refers to a previous occasion of testing positive or of being identified through some other means of investigation as a drug user or trafficker or on-the-job alcohol abuser. Having voluntarily come forward to admit drug use is not considered a prior incident. When a job applicant tests positive, the hiring process ceases immediately. When an employee in his/her 90-day probationary period tests positive, employment is terminated immediately. In neither case may the individual be considered for re-hire within less than one year. When an employee with more than 90 days service and with no prior incident tests positive, he/she is suspended for two weeks without pay. At the end of that period before becoming eligible to return to work, he/she must test negative on a urine test performed by the company doctor at the employee's expense. If the employee tests positive on that test, he/she is immediately terminated and may not be considered for re-hire within less than one year; otherwise, if the employee tests negative, for six months after returning to work, he/she is tested at his/her expense whenever specified by the Human Resource Manager. Hair/nail testing is not used until the employee has been back at work for at least 90 days. When an employee tests positive with a prior incident on record, he/she is placed in indefinite suspension for at least 90 days. Before being considered for reinstatement, the employee must provide evidence that he/she has successfully pursued a rehabilitation program and the President must approve such evidence and program. Additionally, before returning, the employee must test negative on a hair/nail test. Thereafter for the remainder of his/her employment with Trinity Forge, the employee is tested at his/her expense whenever specified by the Human Resource Manager. When an employee tests positive after having previously been terminated or placed on indefinite suspension for drug- or alcohol-related reasons, he/she is terminated immediately and under no circumstances may be considered for re-hire within less than one year, and then only with evidence of rehabilitation and the approval of the President. Anyone identified as a drug trafficker through evidence convincing to senior management is immediately terminated and may not be considered for re-hire for at least one year, and then only with evidence of rehabilitation and the approval of the President.

If an employee uses drugs in violation of company policy, he/she must voluntarily report this fact to the Human Resource Manager or any senior manager before the employee is involved in an accident or told that he/she is to be tested. An employee who comes thus forward is given time off without pay until the effects of such usage have passed and the employee may safely return to work, then the employee is waived from hair/nail testing for 90 days, after which there is a mandatory test at the employee's expense to verify that he/she has remained drug free during this period. An employee who has returned from a suspension within the last 120 days, or who has voluntarily come forward previously more than once, may only enter this "amnesty" program with the approval of the President. If an employee requests a leave of absence to pursue a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, the leave is granted unless the employee is on probation or already in the process of being terminated. Before such employee may return to work, he/she must show evidence of successfully progressing in a rehabilitation program and the administrators of that program must stipulate that in their opinion the employee is ready to return to work. This amnesty program will be rescinded for any employee who, in the judgment of the President, is not utilizing it in a good faith effort to get off drugs.