Wednesday, May 16, 2012

LIA Publishes New Laser Safety Standard

A new standard is available from Laser Institute of America (LIA), ANSI Z136.8, American National Standard for Safe Use of Lasers in Research, Development or Testing. According to LIA, which serves as secretariat of the Z136 series of laser safety standards, the standard arose from increasing reliance on lasers in labs and other research-designated areas. The standard was crafted to distinguish it from the parent document (Z136.1) by detailing different laser-use locations, as well as noting two additional hazard analysis areas, beam path and beam interaction.