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Safety links and articles
 

For a broad overview of safe laser show practices, ILDA's webpage Laser Show Safety - Basic Principles has general guidelines. All ILDA Members who do shows must affirm that they have read, understand and acknowledge these basic principles.

Laser pointers

Although ILDA Members do not generally work with laser pointers, as a public service ILDA co-sponsors the website www.laserpointersafety.com. This site is a major resource about keeping laser pointers safe and legal. It stresses outdoor laser/aviation safety, so that persons do not aim laser beams at airplanes and helicopters.

Laser show incident reports

In July 2008, eye injuries were reported from lasers at the Aquamarine Open Air Festival near Moscow, Russia. Subsequent analysis showed that a pulsed laser had been illegally used to scan into the audience. The laser show company was NOT an ILDA Member.
     This type of laser is inherently more hazardous than continuous-wave lasers. For this reason, ILDA Members are required to affirm that they do not use pulsed lasers for audience scanning. Details about the Aquamarine incident are here.

In July 2009, eye injuries were reported from lasers at the Tomorrowland Festival in Boom, Belgium. An investigation showed that the injuries were from laser pointers misused by persons in the audience. The laser light show, which was produced by an ILDA Member, was cleared in the incident. Calculations show that the laser show power was well below ILDA-recommended limits for festival-type shows. Details about the Tomorrowland incident are here.
 

Articles, papers, and other documents

Audience scanning

We have two webpages for ILDA Members only, with instructions for measuring beam irradiance, and with tips for audience scanning shows.

The following documents are available for download. They may not be posted on your website or reprinted without written permission from ILDA and/or the author(s).

• Scanning Audiences at Laser Shows: Theory, Practice and a Proposal  A 28-page paper by Patrick Murphy and Greg Makhov, written in 2009 and updated in 2010, This describes audience scanning, discusses the very low number of injury reports and gives reasons why, and presents ILDA's proposal to allow greater laser power in return for banning very high power shows. (This paper is updated periodically. As of November 2010, it is version 2.6. If you need the original version presented at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference, contact ILDA.)
       You can also download the audience scanning PowerPoint slides, which were used in a presentation at ILSC 2009 to summarize the paper for the assembled laser safety experts. (The slides have since been updated to add news and correct minor typos. If you need the exact ILSC 2009 slides, contact ILDA.)
• Audience Scanning Guidelines, a report issued by an international panel of experts at the 1998 ILDA Conference. This is presented for historical purposes, since the "Scanning Audiences at Laser Shows" paper above is more up-to-date.
• Art vs. Science  This article by Greg Makhov addresses several issues regarding audience scanning, such as how laserists can accurately determine the safety of the effect. This article is an excellent introduction for the non-technical person, yet also contains a wealth of hard data for professionals.
• Making Shows Safe and Enjoyable  This article by William Benner provides detailed information on how to measure audience scanning effects to make sure international safety standards are met and audiences experience an enjoyable show.
• Audience Scanning in the USA: Where is It?  Audience scanning happens in Europe, Asia, and almost everywhere except the USA. This Oct. 2000 article by David Lytle discusses the history and future of audience scanning in America. (Note: In 2007, audience scanning using galvanometer scanners was allowed by U.S. regulators under specified conditions. At least two different companies received FDA/CDRH variances for audience scanning. Therefore, there may be elements of this article which are out of date.)

Lasers and aviation safety

The website www.laserpointersafety.com, co-sponsored by ILDA, includes detailed information about lasers and aviation which is useful for those doing laser shows and other outdoor operations.

The following document provides background information on laser/aviation safety. It can be downloaded, but may not be posted at a website or reprinted without written permission from ILDA and/or the author(s). (If you need to, simply link to the document here at ILDA's website.)

• Lasers and Aviation Safety  A 17-page paper by Patrick Murphy, describing the hazards to pilots, ways to reduce the hazards, regulations, and a brief history of laser/aviation incidents. An earlier version of this was presented at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference.
       You can also download the Lasers and Aviation Safety PowerPoint slides, which were used in a presentation at ILSC 2009 to summarize the paper for the assembled laser safety experts. (The slides have since been updated to add news and correct minor typos. If you need the exact ILSC 2009 slides, contact ILDA.)

The following Aerospace Standard (AS) and Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) documents must be purchased from SAE Aerospace, www.sae.org. The price in March 2009 ranged from $48 to $61. In the past, some of these ARPs have formed the basis for government regulations in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. ILDA has a copy of each publication for Members' reference, but cannot distribute the full document.

• AS 4970, Human Factors Considerations for Outdoor Laser Operations in the Navigable Airspace. This became the basis for FAA regulations. It provides a method for protecting navigable airspace, and a procedure for outdoor laser users to seek approval from regulatory agencies for operations of various classes of laser devices.
• ARP 5290, Laser Beam Divergence Measurements Techniques Comparison. Compares the long focal length lens and small aperture method, the two-point aperture method, the knife-edge measurement method, and use of a beam profiler. The two-point aperture methods was considered to be the simplest, quickest and most practical technique.
• ARP 5293, Safety Considerations for Lasers Projected in the Navigable Airspace. For users of outdoor lasers.
• ARP 5535, Observers for Laser Safety in the Navigable Airspace. Provides guidance for optimal use of safety observers ("spotters") during operation of a laser system. It also recommends minimum requirements for a safety observer.
• ARP 5572, Control Measures for Laser Safety in the Navigable Airspace. Describes pros and cons of safety observers ("spotters") and automated methods of aircraft detection and avoidance. Includes radars (boresight, scanning and phased array), FAA air traffic data, Radar Airspace Monitoring System (RAMS), cameras, infrared cameras, Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), and potential future technologies such as GPS and multilateration.

Laser damage to cameras and camcorders

It is not just human eyes which can be damaged by too-powerful lasers. We have information for the general public on laser effects on cameras and camcorders. For ILDA Members only, we have a page with more detailed information on how to avoid damaging cameras and camcorders with laser beams.

United States laser safety laws

For ILDA Members only, we have webpages with details about U.S. laws and regulations, and U.S. import laws.

Other laser safety material

The following document must be purchased from IEC's website (click on the link). For ILDA Members, an earlier draft is available here for Members only which gives a good background. The final version of IEC 60825-3 was changed, in part due to input from ILDA.

• IEC 60825-3, Safety of laser products part 3: Guidance for laser displays. "This technical report ... provides recommendations for safety for those laser displays or demonstrations that are shows, artistic displays, advertising or light sculptures, or museum pieces used to demonstrate optical principles, etc." ILDA has issued the following statement about the document:

“IEC 60825-3 is a valuable resource for anyone using lasers for display or demonstration purposes. It represents the ‘best practices’ of laser safety specialists from many nations. While it does not supersede national or local laws, it does provide a useful overview of the many considerations necessary to produce a safe laser display.
     For those getting started with laser show safety, the document is worth the approximate USD $85 cost (for PDF version from IEC’s webstore). It is also especially helpful for those in countries without significant laser safety laws or enforcement, who want to follow well-established international safety practices.”

The following documents are available to ILDA Members only.

• SAE G-10T Minutes, August 11-15 2008 (for ILDA Members only). This meeting of laser-aviation safety experts contains descriptions of around 12 aircraft illumination incidents, most in the January to July 2008 timeframe. The minutes also describe presentations given by ILDA Executive Director Patrick Murphy to the group.
• SAE G-10T Minutes, August 13-17 2007 (for ILDA Members only). This meeting of laser-aviation safety experts contains descriptions of around 13 aircraft illumination incidents, most in the April to August 2007 timeframe. The minutes also discuss a laser pointer bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the latest FAA research using lasers in a flight simulator.
  
  NOTE: These are private documents for ILDA Members' use only, and are not to be distributed outside of ILDA.

The following documents are available for download. They may not be posted on your website or reprinted without written permission from ILDA and/or the author(s).

• Hardware Safety List  This informational ILDA document provides a summary of the engineering and labeling requirements defined in the IEC 60825-1 standard for laser products. Laser products require certain built-in safety features, depending on the class to which they have been assigned. This document summarizes the required engineering features and product labels.
• ETS-LDI Laser Exhibitor Guidelines  This document is written for exhibitors at the ETS-LDI trade show. It provides an excellent overview of US rules applicable to using lasers at trade shows and public events in general. It also includes important information for non-US companies that want to display products at US trade shows and/or import products to the US.

   
Links to important laser safety webpages and websites

• www.LaserPointerSafety.com
  A website co-sponsored by ILDA with information about laser pointer safety, and especially, the hazards of pointing lasers towards aircraft.
• Health Protection Agency, Radiation Protection Division (HPA-RPD)
  U.K. public authority that works closely with laser display companies, venue managers, promoters and regulators to ensure safe laser shows in the UK and consistent standards worldwide.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Center for Devices and Radiological Health
  If you are performing lasers shows in the US or selling laser display projectors, this is your source of information on US regulations affecting laser displays. (The CDRH may change their webpage addresses, so if the above link does not work, use Google to find the official CDRH home page.)
• Rockwell Laser Industries: State Safety Contacts
  Laser displays in the US must also comply with the regulations of state governments. Rockwell, which offers laser safety products and training, has compiled a list of state government contacts.