Safety Concept for a Photon Science beamline experiment with a laser

Your laser safety concept (upload as max. 6 pages pdf in DOOR/laser declaration) is a part of our DESY Photon Science risk assessment for your beamline experiment with a laser. It helps us to identify risks and to define safety measures for a safe and successful laser experiment. For further questions please contact us on photon-science.safety-managers@desy.de. The safety concept should at least cover the following:

A brief description of your laser setup and experiment

Please describe and illustrate the laser setup you are going to use at the respective beamline and intended application (see example below).

Specification of the laser systems

Please specify your laser equipment as shown in the example:

Manufacturer, serial no.	Laser type	Class	Wavelength [nm]	Max. output, power/ energy [W] or [J]	Beam-diameter	CW/ pulsed	Pulse length [s]	Rep. rate [Hz]
Innolas	Nd:YAG, Spilight 600	4	532	> 400 mJ @532 nm	pulsed	6 ns	10

The laser must have a CE mark and a declaration of conformity.

The laser shutter (if needed): Please specify the laser shutter and provide details: how many shutters, certification/confirmation of the laser shutter manufacturer, that the laser shutter is specifically suited/designed for the intended application.

Risk assessments for activities using laser

Please indicate the fundamental risks that can appear during the work with the laser (e.g. eye and skin damage, electrical risks, fire risk, chemicals, compressed gases) and secondary hazards emanating from indirect effects of the laser radiation. Consider whether nanoparticles or x-rays present a hazard to health, especially if material is removed using femtosecond lasers.

Activities using laser systems must be evaluated using a risk assessment (Gefährdungsbeurteilung). The technical, organisational and personal measures for safe laser operation must be determined and documented. Laser activities: please describe details of different procedures for alignment, operation, maintenance and in case of an emergency.

Safety precautions

Please describe your safety measures to keep the risk of personal injuries to a minimum.

Laser interlock	All class 4 and 3B lasers must be connected to a laser interlock system that will switch them off or terminate the laser emission via pin contacts of the laser system in an emergency. Emergency cases are, if: “Gas alarm” (oxygen-sensor) is detected “Evacuation alarm” due to fire (smoke-sensor) is activated “Emergency door open” (Tür-Notauf) is pressed “Emergency call” (Personen-Notruf) is pressed A reset of the interlock must under no circumstances cause a restart of the laser. We need to know which pin contact (internal interlock contacts) of each laser system is doing what, to be able to switch off the laser in case of an interlock failure or an alarm.

Personal protective Eyewear

All laser activities have to be done with appropriate laser goggles that match all wavelengths and fluorescence cards/IR viewer. Inspect eye-wear before each use for mechanical integrity + light leaks.

Eyewear manufacturer	Protected wavelength (s)	Optical density (OD)	Serial no.

Accident with a laser system

If there is an accident (flashing of the eyes, burn) or one is suspected, then a doctor should be consulted. In the event of an eye injury an experienced eye specialist should carry out a medical examination within 24 hours of the event. It is useful to provide a summary of the radiation characteristics in order to describe the accident and support the doctor. Any accident with laser radiation must be followed by a full investigation of the circumstances that led to the event.

Immediate actions after laser exposure with injury:

1. Stop working and turn off the laser

2. Dial 2500 (040-8998 2500 by mobile) to call the DESY emergency department (DESY-Notruf).

3. Let others know that you are injured.

4. Warn others in the area if a hazard still exists.

5. Do not alter the laser setup to allow the analysis of the cause of the accident.

6. Inform your supervisor and the laser safety officer.