The IEC TC-76 committee on laser safety has recently approved Edition 2 to the IEC 60825-1 laser safety standard, and formal publication is expected in early 2007. This paper will briefly describe the extensive amendments that are included in the new Edition: removal of LEDs from this standard; revision of the definition of human access for better consistency with actual hazards; revision of measurement criteria to increase the distance used for classification of diverging beams; simplification of measurement criteria for small (point) sources; and application of more stringent measurement criteria to evaluate the limits for extended sources.
Other changes include additional information for the user manual, flexibility on product labels, revision of some engineering control measures, limitations on the level of laser radiation that can be accessible during maintenance, and revision and addition of definitions. This new edition also removes the user requirements from the 60825-1 standard, following the publication of updated recommendations for user safety in IEC TR60825-14 in 2004.