Hi safetodo01. As a H&S practitioner with additional hygiene qualifications and experience I can say with certainty that the usual H&S routes of learning and experience left a large gap in my recognition, understanding and ability to solve OccHyg issues. I vaguely knew this but it was only when I started the OccHyg studies that I realised the extent of the gap. The best advice I can give you is to be critical of your existing expertise, be sure of the reasons for wanting to hire a hygienist, be clear on what you are wanting to achieve (although I suspect these questions are the reasons for your post) and then draw up a list of essential qualities for the person spec, a secondary list of desired qualities and a list of "disqualification qualities". The latter two are more "soft" and are linked to how the person will fit in to the existing team and be able to stand up to the rigours of the job. The more relaxed and informal the interview process, the more likely you will be to make a good judgement, whilst still retaining the required fairness in the selection process. A Member of BOHS and Licentiate of the Faculty (LFOH) should be a minimum unless you are just looking for a technician to do some measuring. Better still MFOH. Be prepared to be challenged on some of your assumptions about exposures! Not a full answer but hopefully something to think about.