Well before IST became the large university institute that it is today, excellence had been the primary concern of its various teams. Documents dating from 1971 already report of international comparisons between laboratories in order to ensure the reliability of analyses performed in the biological monitoring of workers. Despite the complexity of certain analyses or the urgency of the subjects dealt with, quality remains our core value.

IST laboratories regularly participate – with the United States, Canada, the UK or Germany – in international quality control programmes concerning asbestos, solvents and metals in air and in biological fluids. Other inter-laboratory tests, in collaboration with the European Union, deal with the analysis of aldehydes, isocyanates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and diesel particles.

Since 1997 we have been accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Service, SAS (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO) as a testing laboratory for the evaluation of occupational exposure by analysis of hazardous substances, physical risks and biomarkers. In 2002 the aeras accredited (accreditation number STS 185 – Swiss Testing) were expanded and the new quality management system at IST was recognized as conforming to the requirements of standard ISO/IEC 17025.