Progress towards quantifying the risk posed by today’s and future materials processing laser installations is essential if safety standards are to be adopted which are practical and yet effective. Uninformed opinion could lead to either the imposition of overly restrictive precautions which could stifle the development of new technology such as hybrid laser-robot equipment or result in a gross underestimate of the risk, with all the attendant problems for individuals and the laser supply industry as a whole, in the event of a serious mishap.
So far, the absolute quantification of risk has proved impossible in all but the simplest cases. Factors influencing this include the apparent reluctance of industry to disseminate details of laser incidents and accidents, design weaknesses and problems during operation and maintenance. This paucity of practical, operational information is exacerbated by the inadequacy of data on the integrity/reliability of key components of laser equipment and the associated safety features and systems.
Furthermore, fault tree analysis (as part of the risk assessment) has been usefully applied to several higher power/complex laser installations in the U.K. for identification of potential design weaknesses and for highlighting those parts of the system which have warranted critical safety consideration and focusing of resources. That a formal risk assessment approach has both enabled the cost-effective provision of safeguarding and supplied the rationale/justification for a well-argued safety case, should be persuasive to even the most ardent skeptic.