Risk assessment based legislation and guidance is not prescriptive as to what is and what is not acceptable as a control measure. This is crucially important in the case of lasers, with their staggering range of applications. And in the absence of judicial pronouncements on laser controls, laser uses may understandably feel uneasy over where to draw the line.

Our advice to laser users is to try and foresee the hazardous situation, assess the risk, keep control options under constant review... and avoid pedantic safety advisors! EU workplace legislation states that engineering controls must be considered ahead of administrative controls and that use of PPE (in particular, laser protective eyewear) must only be the last line of defence; but the terms “reasonable practicability” and “reasonably foreseeable”, which lie at the heart of the risk assessment process, allow the laser user a degree of judgement. The key aspect in this judgement is competence, which is where the experienced laser safety adviser can play an important part. The importance of lasers from a scientific/engineering point of view lies to a large degree in the flexibility of laser beam delivery and the wide range of laser applications. For these reasons, the degree of judgement offered by the risk assessment process is crucial if the exploitation of laser technology is to be optimum.

Of course, there is a role for laser working codes within an organisation. However, such prescriptive codes, which are designed to take away some or all of the freedom of choice that the laser user would otherwise have, are generally written specifically for a single organisation or laser application. This makes it possible to make reasonable assumptions on such matters as the necessary degree of access to laser beams, the training of laser users and the working environment.

In the absence of judicial pronouncements, a careful consideration of the risk and a look at what is current best practice are our best guides to laser use. Indeed, the absence of judicial pronouncements is a reflection of the excellent safety record that lasers enjoy, particularly in industrial applications. Yet even in industry we see laser hazards being singled out for extra special treatment. Not that this is a problem, except where exaggerated concerns about laser safety inhibit the uptake of this exciting technology.

Pro Laser Consultants have many years experience of laser use in the research and industrial sectors. We pride ourselves on applying best practice and risk assessments to assist the laser user achieve maximum flexibility in laser use with minimum constraints.