Guidance for Employers

Written by our Faculty of Occupational Hygiene, this guide presents essential information for anyone interested in obtaining occupational hygiene services as a buyer. 

Our Buyer’s Guide for Obtaining Occupational Hygiene Services is vital reading for those seeking occupational hygiene specialist services. Businesses are faced with key legal responsibilities in appointing competent persons to assist with compliance of health and safety laws. The guide is designed to address this requirement, helping you to find the right competent advice for your needs. The guide also explains that while appropriate professional qualifications alone do not guarantee a good consultancy service, they make it more likely.

Within this guide, we recognise the difference in the likely depth of knowledge that a Chartered Member or Fellow may have, compared to a Licentiate, and between a Licentiate and a technician or trainee.

We have also updated and published our FOH Good Practice Guide for Consultants. 

Commenting on the guides, John Dobbie, Past President of BOHS, said,

BOHS is delighted to present these two much-needed guides as industry standards for addressing the competence of the services provided by occupational hygiene consultants on the one hand, and for assisting businesses to select the best competent occupational hygiene consultancy services on the other.  

In launching these updated guides, the Society aims to improve the overall standards of occupational hygiene deliverables by setting minimum competency requirements for consultancies and offering assistance to companies to identify what good practice looks like. These are critical questions which need urgent focus now – to ensure high standards, legal compliance and a healthy working environment for all.

Mike Calcutt, Head of the Occupational Hygiene Unit at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said,

Good advice from suppliers and consultants can make a very important contribution to reducing workplace ill-health.  This guidance from the British Occupational Hygiene Society should help businesses secure the information needed to make good decisions about controlling exposure to substances that can cause significant harm to workers.