Due to the potential harmful effects of staring into a laser beam, caution must be taken when using a laser device. NEVER stare into a laser beam directly or indirectly. Under NO circumstances is a laser product to be shone into the direction of someone’s eyes.
All of our laser products come with the correct labelling either Caution or Danger labels in accordance with the output power of the product in question. The Laser Safety Class also appears on the label accompanying the product.
Global Laser Solutions LTD Ltd stocks a wide range of laser safety eyewear suitable for use with laser products that are not eye safe. Please visit the Laser Safety Eyewear page for more details.
Laser Safety Classifications
Class 1
This class is eye-safe under all operating conditions.
Class 1M
This class is safe for viewing directly with the naked eye, but may be hazardous to view with the aid of optical instruments. In general, the use of magnifying glasses increases the hazard from a widely-diverging beam (eg LEDs and bare laser diodes), and binoculars or telescopes increase the hazard from a wide, collimated beam (such as those used in open-beam telecommunications systems).
Radiation in classes 1 and 1M can be visible, invisible or both.
Class 2
These are visible lasers less than 1.0mW. This class is safe for accidental viewing under all operating conditions. However, it may not be safe for a person who deliberately stares into the laser beam for longer than 0.25 s, by overcoming their natural aversion response to the very bright light.
Class 2M
These are visible lasers. This class is safe for accidental viewing with the naked eye, as long as the natural aversion response is not overcome as with Class 2, but may be hazardous (even for accidental viewing) when viewed with the aid of optical instruments, as with class 1M.
Radiation in classes 2 and 2M is visible, but can also contain an invisible element, subject to certain conditions.
Class 3R
Radiation in this class is considered low risk, but potentially hazardous. The class limit for 3R is 5x the applicable class limit for Class 1 (for invisible radiation) or class 2 (for visible radiation). Hence CW visible lasers emitting between 1 and 5mW are normally Class 3R. Visible class 3R is similar to class IIIA in the US regulations.
Class 3B
Radiation in this class is very likely to be dangerous. For a continuous wave laser the maximum output into the eye must not exceed 500mW. The radiation can be a hazard to the eye or skin. However, viewing of the diffuse reflection is safe.
Information on this page is correct as of 17/09/2018