Laser safety primer outline for industrial/medical users

Laser safety standards are detailed technical documents arising from the complexity of the different mechanisms, depending on the parameters of the laser beam, by which lasers interact with living tissue. As a result, their interpretation by non-expert laser users, who are concerned about safety issues, can cause many difficulties. Based on experience in advising industrial and medical laser users, we have developed a primer which (i) provides step-by-step guidance in the interpretation and use of the laser safety standards, and (ii) explains how to calculate the laser irradiance (on the retina or the skin) to which the user may be subjected in typical situations. A computer program has also been developed which, through a series of questions and answers, guides the user through the calculation of the maximum permissible exposure level and the nominal optical hazard distance for the application of interest. The overall package should be particularly useful to laser safety officers and users of lasers for research applications, as an independent check on safety calculations. It also provides a useful complement to the many worked examples in the laser safety standards.