:)

Hi Everyone,

Please help me with some small questions.

1. Do you have to be certified in order to call yourself Laser Safety Officer (LSO)?

2. Can you just take some courses that teach the standard (ANSI Z136.1) and that would be enough?

3. Our company has people that are Optical Engineer (with PhD). Are they qualify enough to be a LSO?

4. What are the job duties of the Laser Safety Officer?

5. Can someone gives me some sample of Laser Safety Program? (We already have sign\label; training materials; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE))

Thank you,

Khanh

A) I'm pretty sure the term "Laser Safety Officer" doesn't appear in the ISO9001:2000 standard, so no - it's not a requirement.
B) Most places I've worked have used lasers for marking and bar coding and we never had a "Laser Safety Officer".

since you have optical engineers I have to assume you use lasers for something other than product engraving or marking. Can you give us more details on that - I suppose if you're using very powerful lasers, and a lot of them, it may warrant somene being blessed with "Laser Safety Officer" title, but probably not as a full time job.

A) I'm pretty sure the term "Laser Safety Officer" doesn't appear in the ISO9001:2000 standard, so no - it's not a requirement.
B) Most places I've worked have used lasers for marking and bar coding and we never had a "Laser Safety Officer".

since you have optical engineers I have to assume you use lasers for something other than product engraving or marking. Can you give us more details on that - I suppose if you're using very powerful lasers, and a lot of them, it may warrant somene being blessed with "Laser Safety Officer" title, but probably not as a full time job.

The OP is from Texas. Could there be a regulatory and/or statutory requirement in the State of Texas requiring a safety person associated with the use of (industrial) lasers?

Stijloor.

Hi,

My company used laser provided by our vendor (Class 3b - High Power laser). We enclosed the laser in a concealed box which then enclosed inside our chassis. When it all said and done, it is now considered a class 1b (low power). The customer then connect their fiber cable (using E2000 connector) to the back of our chassis. The potential of someone get hit with the laser light is very rare. However, it is possible if someone open up the cover on the E2000 connector and look directly into it while the laser is on. Even so, a few minutes to have some sort of effects. Now that I think about it, I guess I would expect that OHSA would require a company to have LSO. Is this a correct assumption?

Now that I think about it, I guess I would expect that OHSA would require a company to have LSO. Is this a correct assumption?

This (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/laserhazards/) may help you.

Stijloor.

The OP is from Texas. Could there be a regulatory and/or statutory requirement in the State of Texas requiring a safety person associated with the use of (industrial) lasers?

Stijloor.

Good call, Stijloor. There is indeed a regulatory requirement, administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/radiation/rules.shtm). Since I already downloaded it, I'm attaching the relevant PDF file from that site.

Hi,

My company used laser provided by our vendor (Class 3b - High Power laser). We enclosed the laser in a concealed box which then enclosed inside our chassis. When it all said and done, it is now considered a class 1b (low power). The customer then connect their fiber cable (using E2000 connector) to the back of our chassis. The potential of someone get hit with the laser light is very rare. However, it is possible if someone open up the cover on the E2000 connector and look directly into it while the laser is on. Even so, a few minutes to have some sort of effects. Now that I think about it, I guess I would expect that OHSA would require a company to have LSO. Is this a correct assumption?

According to Stijloor and Jim have dug up it appears that TX requires an LSO for use of class 3b lasers.

The document Jim posted details the requirements pretty clearly.

Good luck!