Laser Safety Standards in Brief
Standards most Applicable to Medical and Cosmetic Purposes
Laser equipment
BS EN 60825 1:2007 Edition 2 Radiation safety of laser products, equipment classification, requirements and users guide. IEC 2007
This document contains values for maximum permissible exposures (MPE) for the eye and skin. Exposure to laser light above these values will result in harm. Worked examples of Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance (NOHD) are also included in this standard.
The laser classification system is also introduced here. There are several classes of laser ranging from class 1 (safe, e.g. laser in CD player) to class 3B and 4 (used for medical and cosmetic therapy).
Class 3B
normally hazardous for direct beam exposure
viewing diffuse reflections is normally safe
output lower than 500mW
Class 4
can produce hazardous diffuse reflections
may cause skin injury
potential fire hazard
Class 3B and Class 4 lasers (the ones used for most medical and cosmetic treatments) represent a significant risk to the eye and skin.
IPL equipment
BS EN 60601-2-57:2011 Medical electrical equipment - part 2-57 particular requirements for the basic safety and essential performance of non-laser light source equipment
This is a relatively new standard and introduces a classification system for IPL devices.
The classification ranges from "exempt" to "RISK GROUP 3" which pretty much all IPL devices used for treatments such as hair removal fall into. Risk Group 3 devices represent a significant hazard to the eye or skin. Standard warning labels and safety instructions are also described in this document.
Eyewear standards
Standards also exist for safety eyewear.
BS EN 207 and BS EN 208 for laser eyewear
BS EN 8497-1 for IPL eyewear.
The laser standard can be confusing for the layman but in light of reports of dubious imports, it does at least guarantee some level of quality and assurance for the user.
The IPL eyewear standard has so far gone largely ignored as suppliers have already invested in eyewear conforming to generic standards or welding eyewear standards.
LASER EYE HAZARD
