Laser Safety Management

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The use of laser products within the University is both vast and broad. Lasers can cause serious injury to eyes and skin. For an injury to occur, an individual has to be exposed to high hazard radiation emitted from a laser product. Heads of departments have a responsibility to identify the use of laser products in their department and assess the risk of injury. The University's policy statement details how that must be done.

The vast majority of equipment pose little or no risk of laser exposure, so no specific action is required. However, some laser products are only safe under certain circumstances (eg laser displays kept above head height or laser cutters with interlocked enclosures). Also, some suppliers provide laser products that do not meet the relevant laser requirements set out within the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations. As such, all departments should have a basic awareness of this policy so that the general requirements can be applied to all laser products.