Procedure for the assessment of LASER Systems

The LASER system falls into class 3B or 4 and the beam is free (the LASER beam is mounted on a manually steerable handpiece; the manufacturer did not embed it into a housing; e.g. hand-held LASER handpieces as in an aesthetic or hospital setting, industrial LASERs that require the presence of the operator in the immediate proximity of the free beam).

The NOHD (Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance) is quite big and therefore the LASER can represent a risk for everyone who happens to be in the immediate proximity of the usage environment.

In this case, it is necessary to create a totally isolated environment:

• the barriers that define the LASER controlled (walls, windows, slabs of the housing) shall completely enclose the LASER radiation. They shall be appropriate both to provide the adequate attenuation of the radiation and to resist even if exposed to the direct beam, if it is likely that this may occurr. For calculating the barriers and verifying their appropriateness, refer to the standard IEC EN 60825-4 "Safety of laser products. Laser guards".
• each entrance shall be connected with the interlock system;
• outside each entrance there shall be an illuminated warning sign indicating when the LASER is in use;
• no reflecting surfaces shall be present in the environment;

Proceed