• Draft Guidance for Laser Notice 56 is Available for Comment
• IEC 60825-1 Interpretation Sheets Published
• RLI Exhibiting at DOE LSO Workshop
• UL Is Hosting Another Measurements for Laser Safety Course
• Upcoming Industrial Laser Safety Courses
• Product Focus: Laser Sentry Entryway Control System
• Featured Consulting Service: Laser Safety Program Audits

Draft Guidance for Laser Notice 56 is Available for Comment

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance entitled

"Conformance with IEC 60825-1 Ed. 3 and IEC 60601-2-22 Ed. 3.1
(Laser Notice No. 56)."

This draft guidance describes the Agency's proposed approach regarding compliance with FDA's performance standards for laser products.

The FDA believes that under the circumstances described in this guidance, conformance with certain International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards would provide adequate protection of the public health and safety for laser products similar to performance standards in FDA's regulations. Accordingly, FDA does not intend to consider whether firms that comply with the comparable IEC standards discussed in this guidance document also comply with performance standards in FDA's regulations.

This draft guidance is not final nor is it in effect at this time.
 

IEC 60825-1 Interpretation Sheets Published

Two interpretation sheets have recently been published for IEC 60825-1 Edition 3.0; one covering complex pulsed emission, and the other dealing with laser illuminated lamps and projectors:

• Interpretation Sheet 1
• Interpretation Sheet 2

Although these IEC Interpretation Sheets will not be formally published by CENELEC in Europe, TC76 has started a project to include this information as an Annex to IEC 60825-1.

RLI Exhibiting at DOE LSO Workshop

The 2018 Department of Energy Laser Safety Officer Workshop is being held at the University of Rochester from May 8-10, 2018. RLI will be exhibiting at the event which includes both invited and contributed talks.

The Department of Energy LSO Workshop is for individuals with laser safety responsibility and interest in a research or academic setting who want to update and expand their knowledge. It features presentations on current laser applications, and associated laser safety issues and solutions.

UL Is Hosting Another Measurements for Laser Safety Course

RLI is once again offering the Measurements for Laser Safety Course, hosted by UL and featuring equipment by Ophir Optronics.

This hands-on course will teach you how to perform laser safety measurements according to applicable laser safety standards. The course will focus on workshop exercises that are designed to make maximum use of laser output measurement equipment in solving real-world laser measurement problems.

The ANSI Z136.4 American National Standard Recommended Practice for Laser Safety Measurements for Hazard Evaluation, FDA/CDRH Laser Product Performance Standard, and the IEC/TR 60825-13 Ed. 2.0 will be the basis of measurement requirements presented in the course. The instructor is the Chair of the ANSI Z136 Measurements Standards Subcommittee (SSC-4) and the Convenor of the IEC TC 76 Laser Radiation Measurement Working Group (WG 3).

For more information about this course, please contact us via email or call us at (800) 94-LASER.
 

RLI also offers Online Industrial Laser Safety Courses and On-site Industrial Laser Safety Officer Courses that can be held at your facility.

For more information regarding our training courses, please contact a training representative via email or call us at (800) 94-LASER.
 

Laser Sentry Entryway Control System

Rockwell Laser Industries offers a broad line of control systems and accessories that allow the facility Laser Safety Officer to more easily implement the ANSI Z136 based requirements for a laser controlled area. The cornerstone of these products is the RLI Laser Sentry™ Entryway Control Unit, a microprocessor based entryway control system.

Laser Sentry accessories include warning signs such as the the RLI Bi-Lume™ or Tri-Lume™ along with the traditional illuminated warning sign. There are also a wide selection of entryway control components including entryway numerical access and push button entryway controls, doorway interlocks, magnetic door locks, emergency control switches and other similar entryway and area controls.

A typical installation may be completed in a few hours with a single Laser Sentry™ control unit, a few standard burglar alarm/door access control components, and multi-conductor low voltage control wire.

For more information regarding laser barriers and curtains, please contact Pat Cogan via email or by calling (800) 94-LASER.
 

Laser Safety Program Audits

• Administrative Control
• Laser Safety Officer (Deputy Laser Safety Officer)
• Equipment
• Continuing Education
• Documentation
• Program Development

Written reports are available that include a brief summary, identification of areas of non-compliance with standards, needs assessment, recommendations for remedy of deficiencies, and long term recommendations for growth of service.

For more information regarding our consulting services, please contact Nancy Mauro via email or by calling (800) 94-LASER.