Laser Safety Standards
What Laser Safety standards apply?
For most of the world the applicable laser safety standard is the international standard set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and known as IEC 60825 (previously IEC 825). This standard has several parts that are detailed in the table below. The exception to this rule is the USA who have never adopted the international standard, but instead have their own CDRH (Center for Devices and Radiological Health) standard, adminstered under the auspices of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). The US user standard is ANSI Z136.1, whilst the manufacturer's standard is CDRH 21 CFR parts 1040.10 and 1040.11.
If lasers or laser devices are being used or sold into any European country, and most other international countries outside the USA, then the appropriate standard for classification and labelling purposes is the international IEC 60825 standard. Within Europe this standard has been adopted as a European Normative standard known as EN 60825, and each European country will have its own version of this standard with, for example, the British Standards version known as BS EN 60825.
There can be small differences between the different countries versions of EN 60825, and these are in part caused by the process of translating the standard into the native language of that country.
Luckily for some International laser product manufacturers the CDRH in the USA has decided to harmonise their requirements with 21 CFR 1040.10 and 1040.11 with the IEC 60825-1 and IEC 60601-2-22 standards. This process has not yet happened and in the interim, so as to reduce the regulatory burden on industry and the CDRH agency, they have released 'Laser Notice No.50' that explains what they require. This notice allows some IEC classification and labelling of lasers within the USA. Further information on CDRH requirements can be found at www.fda.gov/cdrh/radhlth.
The IEC 60825 Range of Laser Safety Standards.
The table below summarises the IEC 60825 range of laser safety standards. The reader should note that work is in progress on some of these documents, and it is important to ensure that the latest version of the standard is used. This can be problematic when the standard is still referred to as, for example, the 1994 standard when there was a significant revision issued in 2001.
| Standard Number | Brief Description |
| 60825-1 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 1: Equipment classification, requirements and user guide. |
| 60825-2 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communication systems (OFCS). |
| 60825-3 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 3: Guidance for laser displays and shows. |
| 60825-4 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 4: Laser guards. |
| 60825-5 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 5: Manufacturer's checklist for IEC 60825-1. |
| 60825-6 | Withdrawn. Safety of Laser Products - Part 6: Safety of products with optical sources , exclusively used for visible information transmission to the human eye. |
| 60825-7 | Withdrawn. Safety of Laser Products - Part 7: Safety of products emitting infrared optical radiation, exclusively used for wireless 'free air' data transmission and surveillance. |
| 60825-8 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 8: Guidelines for the safe use of medical laser equipment. |
| 60825-9 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 9: Compilation of maximum permissible exposure to incoherent optical radiation. |
| 60825-10 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 10: Application guidelines and explanatory notes to IEC 60825-1. |
| 60825-11 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 11: . |
| 60825-12 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for transmission of information. |
| 60825-13 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 13: Measurements for classification of laser products. |
| 60825-14 | Safety of Laser Products - Part 14: A user's guide. |
| 60825-15 | Guidance to IEC Technical Committees for product manufacturing requirements for non-laser optical radiation safety. |
In addition to these IEC standards and their equivalent BS EN 60825 documents, there are two standards for laser safety protective eyewear:
- BS EN 207: Specification for filters and equipment used for personal eye-protection against laser radiation.
- BS EN 208: Specification for personal eye protectors used for adjustment work on lasers and laser systems.
An area of debate currently exists around the subject of PPE (personal protective equipment) as defined in the documents above, and when, if ever, it should or needs to be specified.
Lucid offer training courses in most aspects of laser safety, but please contact us if we can help with training in a particular standard or area of laser safety.