Mock audits: How they can help your company

Building and developing your company's drug testing policy is just the beginning of meeting and maintaining compliance standards. Once your company policy exists, it's your duty to ensure that your drug testing policy and practices meet legislative, regulatory and industry standards in support of public safety and employees' workplace rights. Erroneous policies or failing to meet requirements can result in costly fines and penalties, which supports the value of making mock audits a business priority for your compliance program.

Compliance programs can be expensive, time-consuming and flat-out confusing, but with the help of a mock audit, you have the opportunity to fix most problems or inaccuracies before you're surprised by a formal audit.

A mock audit is essentially an internal assessment that mirrors the tenets of a formal audit to prevent risks, fines and fees. When conducting a mock audit, the customer will mirror the entire process of a formal audit. This allows your staff to become familiar with audit protocols, which can vary depending on the industry requirements.

Mock audits can be very beneficial for customers who wish to create and maintain a drug testing policy that meets compliance requirements.

• Limit risk and exposure: Although a mock audit is a business expense, its greatest value is the ability to identify, correct and deter costly mistakes.
• Issues identification and remediation: If anything is wrong with your drug testing policy, you'll have the chance to impose corrective actions through sound remediation plans without repercussions.
• Pursue optimal performance: A mock audit allows you to enhance your current policy for optimal performance. Sometimes policies only meet the bare minimum, and to better deter greater risks, a mock audit will let you know areas where you can go above and beyond instead of just meeting basic expectations.

How to prepare

Preparation is key for a successful audit, and there's no better way to be prepared than to stay prepared for scrutiny. Mock audits are the obvious solution.

• Awareness: It's important to know exactly what the auditing agency expects before the auditing process launches. Identifying problems through a mock audit allows you to reach out to the agency to ask questions and then adjust your program to meet its specifications.
• Accuracy: Make use of your auditing tools and resources, such as training, electronic record management software and system-generated statistical reporting, to ensure accuracy among your records and your third-party administrator's (TPA's) records before any errors get caught during an audit.
• Accessibility: Your records should remain easily available in the case of a TPA change or statistical reporting requirement(s). It's important to always maintain a trail of records in the event that those records are not appropriately attained by other parties. Documentation also helps explain any irregularities in your program's data or the cause of any documents' inaccessibility.

What your TPA can do for you

TPAs offer comprehensive auditing services to ensure that your drug testing policy meets industry standards and help prevent costly mistakes. Such services can be catered to specific DOT modes or just general recommendations if your company is non-DOT.

Additional audit services, when needed, include DOT agency-specific mock audits, including the notice of potential future DOT findings, safety assessments, recordkeeping guidance and recommendations.

During an audit, your TPA will evaluate compliance in the following areas, depending upon variations due to DOT agency requirements:

• Policy, standard operating procedures and compliance personnel
• Audit and monitoring standards
• Recordkeeping and reporting (including security and retention periods), comprising personnel work, performance, accident and medical records, and maintenance records

Once the mock audit is completed, some TPAs will deliver a comprehensive, agency-specific report to your company that details deficiencies and the priority in which they should be addressed to ensure regulatory compliance.

For more information, visit www.disa.com, call (800) 752-6432 or email sales@disa.com.