A Laser Safety Officer is required to verify that adequate control measures are in place for all Class 3B and Class 4 lasers. What does this mean? Most LSOs will concentrate on the controls that they are comfortable with i.e., Entryway Controls, Standard Operating Procedures, Signage, Labelling, and PPE. But what about the optical table and all the components that reside there. This is where your typical LSO will shy away because they just don’t feel comfortable, but this is where you should focus the most.
This talk will introduce the LSO to common optical table dangers and suggest practical solutions. Some of the items covered will be invisible beams, the “sacred horizontal plane”, vertical beams, rogue beams, leakage, back reflections, and non-beam hazards. Understanding these aspects will ensure that you do not fall into the trap of missing the precursors of most laser accidents, Hazards on the Optical Table.