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Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports DDPS

Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP
SPIEZ LABORATORY

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History

Chemical warfare agents - 30 tonnes of chlorine to be precise - were first used in April 1915, an event which led to serious discussions within the Swiss army and signalled the beginning of gas protection research. It soon became apparent that a permanent designated gas laboratory was needed.

On 8 February 1918 the "gas service" of the University of Berne was set up. Many years later, it would become the SPIEZ LABORATORY. This may be called as the birth of the Personal Protection Working Group
The SPIEZ LABORATORY boasts an extensive infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities for work and research on individual NBC protection.

The Individual Protection Working Group uses its in-depth specialist knowledge and testing capabilities to ensure the effectiveness and quality of personal NBC protective equipment (PPE). Even today one of our main priorities continues to be the decontamination of chemically-polluted air through the use of activated carbon. However, over time our activities have gradually expanded to incorporate civilian applications too. The last large-scale military projects in which we participated was the introduction of the NBC protective filter 90 and the NBC protective suit 90 - components of the individual chemical protection system used by the Swiss army.

The fall of the Berlin Wall led the SPIEZ LABORATORY to re-think and reprioritise its activities. This change in focus provided the Personal Protection Working Group with the opportunity to put their extensive experience and specialist knowledge of sorption and filter technology at the disposal of private customers, i.e. industry. Expert reports as well as technical and scientific research (such as the modelling of dynamic sorption processes) enable us not only to enhance our knowledge but also to apply it more widely. This is particularly true of measurement and testing technology, where we can generate high quality results thanks to our qualified staff and state-of-the-art equipment.

Our ISO/IEC 17025 accredited test centre for sorbents and breathing apparatus filters (STS 022) can perform over 32 specific tests. The SPIEZ LABORATORY has a large number of expert working groups in a wide range of specialist fields, because there are many issues which require, and greatly benefit from, the input of many different types of experts.