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Page 32 of 39
Controlled
Area
required.
required.
Labels
Shall have
Shall have
Shall have.
Shall have.
Shall have.
Area Posting
No
requirement.
No
requirement.
Should have
Shall have.
Nominal Hazard
Zone analysis
required.
Shall have.
Nominal Hazard
Zone analysis
required.
Standard
Operating
Procedures
No
requirement.
No
requirement.
No
requirement.
Should have.
Shall have.
Education and
Training
No
requirement.
Should have.
Should have.
Shall have.
Shall have.
Authorized
Personnel
No
requirement.
No
requirement.
No
requirement.
Shall have.
Shall have.
Warning Signs
and Labels
No requirement
Should have.
Should have.
Shall have.
Nominal Hazard
Zone analysis
required.
Shall have.
Nominal Hazard
Zone analysis
required.
ANSI Z136.1 requires specific control measures for each laser classification and the environment in which they are used.
The chart above lists some of the requirements that may need to be implemented in a laboratory setting. The company
Laser Safety Officer, or designee, should reference the applicable safety regulations for appropriate control measures to
implement in the area the marker will be used.
1.4 BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LASER IRRADIATION
1.4.1 Eye Injury
Because of the high degree of beam collimation, a laser serves as an almost ideal point source of intense light. A laser
beam of sufficient power can theoretically produce retinal intensities at magnitudes that are greater than conventional
light sources, and even larger than those produced when directly viewing the sun. Eye exposure to a direct beam can
cause permanent eye damage including blindness. Protective eyewear should always be worn when potential exposure
to direct laser beams exist.
Due to the lens-like focusing effect of the human eye, it is 100,000 times more vulnerable to injury than the
skin.
Laser safety eyewear should always be available for the wavelengths of lasers in use.
Eye protective equipment, however, should be considered the last line of defense against laser beam
exposure – engineering and administrative controls should be used first.
Remove all jewelry when working with an open beam to prevent reflection of the beam in unsafe directions.
When possible, use all protective housings, interlocks and shields.
Laser Safety Eyewear should always be worn during laser repair, alignment, or installation, or at any time
when any laser safety control is not in place.
1.4.2 Thermal Injury
The most common cause of laser-induced tissue damage is thermal in nature, where the tissue proteins are denatured
due to the temperature rise following absorption of laser energy.
The thermal damage process (resulting in burns) is generally associated with lasers operating at exposure times greater
than 10 microseconds and in the wavelength region from the near ultraviolet to the far infrared. Tissue damage may also
be caused by thermally induced acoustic waves following exposures to sub-microsecond laser exposures.
1.4.3 Skin Injury
To the skin, UVA (315-400 nm) can cause hyperpigmentation and erythema (aka: sunburn). Exposure in the UVB (280-
315 nm) range is most injurious to skin. In addition to thermal injury caused by ultraviolet energy, there is also possibility
of radiation carcinogenesis from UVB. The shorter wavelengths are absorbed in the outer dead layers of the epidermis