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If you’re employed in the oil and gas industry, or other regulated field, you need to check your DISA status if your employer uses this provider for drug testing and background checks.
As a DISA-qualified SAP, we know how important it is to monitor your DISA status, fix issues quickly, and stay compliant with company policies and DOT requirements.
This guide outlines how to check your status on the DISA portal and steps to take to maintain a clear record.
Key Takeaways
- DISA is a major third-party administrator for drug and alcohol testing and background checks for employers in safety-sensitive industries, including those regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
- CDL applicants, employees, and employers should check DISA to ensure they remain compliant.
- To check your status, obtain login credentials from your employer, choose the appropriate DISA portal, log in, input your name and other information, check your background check status, drug testing records, and whether you are compliant with all requirements.
Who Should Check DISA and Why?
Employees, employers, and applicants in safety-sensitive industries should check their DISA status:
- Employees should check DISA to ensure they’re up to date and in compliance with drug testing requirements.
- Safety-sensitive workers who’ve violated the DOT’s drug and alcohol rules should also check DISA, both before and after completing the return-to-duty process, if returning to work or applying to a company using DISA. This is important to make sure your status has been updated in both DISA’s database and then FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse.
- Applicants should check DISA to ensure they’ve submitted everything needed for their background checks and are not in a prohibited status.
- Employers should check DISA to ensure their applicants and employees aren’t prohibited and are in compliance with all requirements.
Steps to Check Your DISA Status
1. Obtain Login Credentials
You will need to get your login credentials from your employer.
If you haven’t been provided with them, ask your HR representative.
2. Log in to DISA
Go to DISA.com and choose the portal that your company uses. DISA provides the following portals:
- DISA Works
- DISA Screen
- DISA MAPP
- DISA Shared Service
Log in to the relevant portal using the credentials provided by your employer.
3. Locate DISA’s Status Monitoring Tab
After you’ve logged in, explore the dashboard to locate DISA’s status monitoring tab.
Review FAQs and training videos provided by DISA if necessary.
4. Check Your Background Check Status
If you’re a candidate for a job and have undergone a background check through DISA, you can access your background check status by completing this form.
If you see any inaccurate information, file a dispute with DISA to get it corrected.
5. Check Your Drug Testing Records
You can look at your drug testing records from the dashboard.
You can also check whether you’ve been selected for random testing or if the results have been reported.
6. Check Your Compliance Status
DISA uses color coding to indicate compliance status. If your color is green, you are in compliance.
If it’s red, you have not met the requirements.
A red color could indicate that you failed a drug test or that the results are still pending.
If the results are pending, the color should turn green when they are reported (if the test is negative).
Why Does My DISA Status Show I’m Prohibited?
1. Drug or Alcohol Violation
Drug and alcohol violations are the most common cause of having a prohibited status reported by DISA.
This can be caused by any of the following drug and alcohol violations:
- Positive drug or alcohol test
- Refusing a drug or alcohol test
- Leaving the testing site early
- Submitting an adulterated or substituted sample
- Tampering with a specimen
- Skipping a DOT or non-DOT drug or alcohol test
- Arriving at the testing site outside the time window
- Failing a pre-access hair or urine test
If you fail a drug or alcohol test, you must complete the following steps of the return-to-duty process to return to work:
- Complete an SAP evaluation with a DOT-qualified SAP. American River Wellness is a DOT- and DISA-qualified provider. Your SAP will ask questions about your violation and substance use history and design a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
- Complete the testing recommendations. You must complete all of the SAP’s recommendations, which may include drug and alcohol education classes, outpatient counseling, group counseling, or inpatient rehabilitation, depending on the severity of your violation.
- Submit a negative RTD drug test.
- Meet with your SAP. Your SAP will review your progress. If you completed everything and submitted a negative test, they will send a clearance to your employer. Your DISA status and Clearinghouse record will be updated.
- Complete follow-up tests. Once you return to work, you’ll have to submit negative follow-up tests. You will take a minimum of six unannounced tests during the first 12 months. Follow-up testing can continue for up to five years, depending on your SAP’s recommendations.
2. Incomplete or Failed Background Check
You can be listed as prohibited if you fail your background check or have missing documents.
You can fail a background check for the following reasons as a CDL driver:
- Poor driving history (i.e., too many infractions or having one or more major traffic violations, such as a DUI)
- Disqualifying felony, based on your state’s requirements and your employer’s policies
- Discrepancies in your reported education or employment history
Missing documents can also delay the hiring process.
These might include a copy of your CDL, state driver’s license, and Social Security card, your safety performance history from the last three years from each regulated employer you worked for, or a missing DOT physical.
Check DISA to see which documents are missing and contact your employer to resolve the issue.
3. Requirements Not Met
You can also have a prohibited status if your DOT medical card has expired or you haven’t met your training requirements.
To correct these issues, take a DOT physical when required, complete all training, and submit your documents to your employer and DISA via the DISA portal.
4. Medical Disqualification
You can be prohibited from safety-sensitive work if you fail your DOT physical.
When a DOT-certified medical examiner finds that you’re not healthy enough to drive, you won’t be able to work as a CDL driver until your medical condition improves.
5. Appearance on a Government Watch List
If you are listed in a government watch list as a prohibited person, you won’t be able to obtain employment as a CDL driver.
These watchlists, such as the Office of Foreign Access Control Specially Designated Nationals (OFAC-SDN), include people who have engaged in terrorism, drug or human trafficking, and other major offenses and are thus prohibited from employment.
6. Administrative Errors or Record Mismatch
An administrative error or record mismatch can cause you to be listed as prohibited in DISA.
These errors might include an incorrect CDL number, a mismatched SSN, data entry errors, or your SAP evaluation completion not being recorded.
To resolve these problems, contact your employer, DISA support, or your SAP provider.
How to Keep Your DISA Status Clear
To keep your DISA status clear, you should:
- Always report for drug or alcohol tests when directed to do so.
- Refrain from using illicit drugs at all times, including marijuana.
- Do not drink alcohol on duty or within four hours of going on duty.
- Keep your certifications up-to-date, including your DOT physical.
- Complete the RTD process after a DOT drug or alcohol violation.
- Respond quickly to communications from your employer or your DOT-qualified SAP.
- If required to do so, submit to all follow-up tests.
- Log in to DISA regularly to ensure you maintain a green status.
Trust American River Wellness for Help With the RTD Process
If your company partners with DISA as a C/TPA for drug and alcohol testing, you must ensure you remain compliant.
After you violate the DOT drug and alcohol rules, you’ll need to complete the RTD process with a DOT and DISA-qualified SAP.
American River Wellness is both DOT- and DISA-qualified and can help you get back to work quickly with an SAP evaluation.
Contact us today to schedule your evaluation online or by phone at (833) 436-8727.
DISCLAIMER: This information is intended solely for educational and informational purposes. It should not be interpreted as legal counsel or guidance.
FAQ
DISA Global Solutions is a third-party administrator (TPA) company based in Houston.
It focuses on providing compliant drug testing for companies operating in many industries, including those regulated by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), as well as companies with jobs requiring security clearances.
Regulated employers with safety-sensitive workers often use DISA as their C/TPA for drug tests.
DISA offers the following services:
– Pre-employment drug and alcohol tests
– Reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol tests
– Post-accident drug and alcohol tests
– Random drug tests
– Return-to-duty drug tests
– Follow-up tests
– Electronic maintenance of driver qualification (DQ) files
– Reporting certain violations (other than actual knowledge violations) to the Clearinghouse on behalf of partner employers
– Employment background checks
No, your DISA status won’t reset when you change employers. Prospective employers that also use DISA will see your status (if prohibited).
Employers will also be able to see any drug and alcohol violations in the FMCSA Clearinghouse, which they must query before hiring you as a CDL driver.
Yes, you can dispute your DISA status if you think there’s an error.
DISA provides a dispute form.
You can submit it together with supporting evidence that the information is inaccurate.
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