Laser Safety Regulations - OSHA

Different agencies have issued safety recommendations and regulations for the use of lasers in the workplace. At the present time, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) does not have a comprehensive laser standard, although certain parts of their existing regulations can be applied to laser safety.

One such section is the construction standard 29 CFR 1926.102(b)(2), which states that:

Employees whose occupation or assignment requires exposure to laser beams shall be furnished suitable laser safety goggles which will protect for the specific wavelength of the laser and be of optical density (OD adequate for the energy involved.

In addition, Section III, Chapter 6 of the OSHA Technical Manual discusses laser hazards and presents a summary of the current laser regulations enacted at the state level.

When OSHA issues safety citations involving laser incidents, the general duty clause is usually invoked, which requires employers to revise their workplace to fall in line with the ANSI Z 136.1 Standard, which we will cover next.

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