Laser Safety Officer Requirements Osha

At the present time osha does not have a comprehensive laser standard though 29 cfr 1926 54 is applicable to the construction industry.

Laser safety officer requirements osha. Osha laser institute of america lia alliance. Provides some of the questions that an osha compliance officer may ask during inspections of facilities with lasers. Guidelines for the safe use of laser beams on humans. This serves as a guide to the employer the responsible organization the laser safety officer the laser operator and other persons involved on the safe use of lasers and laser equipment classified as class 3b or class 4.

Laser safety officer lso. Safety of laser products part 8. According to the ansi standard ansi z136 1 safe use of lasers a laser safety officer lso is an individual designated by a company university or governmental institution who has the responsibility to monitor the safe usage of lasers in a work environment by defining the proper control measures according to the different levels of laser. Developing and implementing a successful laser safety program is a top priority for you and your organization.

Osha and the laser institute of america lia alliance november 2014. In an effort to cut the number of these deaths and injuries the occupational safety and health administration osha called for facilities using lasers to have a laser safety officer. Whether you are new to laser safety or more experienced your goal is to uphold the highest standard of laser safety. In this case you will need to get a high precision laser beam measurement that you can obtain with an industrial grade laser power meter in order to get accurate values.

A collaborative relationship to foster safer and more healthful american workplaces the alliance provides lia s members and others including small businesses with information guidance and access to training resources that will help them protect employees health and safety particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to laser beam and non. A facility that fully adopts the ansi z136 1 standard is effectively adopting flpps. This places an increased emphasis on the laser safety officer to monitor and enforce laser safety issues. A majority of the flpps requirements are repeated almost verbatim in section 4 3 of the ansi z136 1 standard.

Deaths from laser use in industry and medicine have primarily been the result of electrocution while injuries have been primarily to eyes. Several state governments and the crcpd have developed a model state standard for laser safety. It may be necessary for the laser safety officer lso to measure the lasers in order to establish the maximum permissible exposure mpe values. In 1972 two primary group in the united states were developing laser standards.

The initial development of laser safety standards began during the mid 1960 s as new biological data was made available. Requirements of laser standards.