Course Aim

The aim of this course is to provide an assessment only option to reaffirm competency at an intermediate quantitative level of understanding of the principles of laser safety practice for requalification at level 1 Laser Safety meeting the needs of Australian/International standards for laser safety officer or Defence level 1 laser safety officer (LSO1). Prior to the exam, participants are required to complete self-paced revision to achieve competency and requalify at Level 2 Laser Safety, by successful completion of the assessment. Additionally, participants should complete suitable self-paced revision of both the supporting background material and the comprehensive quantitative coverage of laser safety practice and use of laser safety standards (guidance below) covered in the presentations, worked examples, and tutorial problems of the Five-Day version of the course. When the self-paced requirements are met, participants attempt the scheduled Level 1 Laser Safety exam to regain the qualification.

There are now three options for registration to gain or regain the Level 1 Laser Safety qualification, see “What laser safety course should I do?” if you are unsure which course to do. This option is suitable for:

• Requalification of those who have remained active in the field, have kept current with methodology changes, and are competent and current without refresher training.

Course Outline

Pre-course work: 

• Self-paced coverage/revision of the Level 2 Laser Safety Course material. Material will be provided on Moodle for additional practice before the exam for participants to practice on.

• The Level 2 Laser Safety Course test will be made available in Moodle and must be completed prior to attempting the Level 1 exam, you will have two attempts.

• Failure to complete the Level 2 qualification may result in the requirement to attend the Level 2 One-Day Intensive/Refresher.

Level 1 examination: At registration participants nominate the for future open-book examination scheduled to confirm their proficiency in the material covered. Thus, a certificate will be provided if a passing mark is achieved, indicating successful completion of the course. Only one Level 1 exam attempt is included.

Suggest topics for review: The following topics from the Level 1 Laser Safety Course are suggested to be reviewed before attempting the test and exam:

Laser properties: Spatial modes, near and far field concepts, beam propagation models and calculations | Laser beam through aperture coupling models and calculations | Power, energy, divergence, solid angle, irradiance, and radiant exposure concepts.

Hazard analysis principle and practice: A more comprehensive coverage laser safety standards including quantifying hazardous exposure definitions.

MPE Calculations: Calculation of maximum permissible exposure (MPE) levels for continuous wave (CW) and pulsed lasers.

Hazard distances calculations: Using MPEs for quantitative hazard evaluation, including various permutations of Nominal Ocular/Skin Hazard Distances (NOHD & NSHD) and evaluation of specular reflection hazard distance for CW and pulsed lasers | Extended NOHD/NSHD for telescopic optics | Reduced NOHD/NSHD with filters or atmospheric attenuation.

Other hazard calculations and safety evaluations: specification of the required optical density (OD) for laser protective eyewear or guarding | Extended source discussion and diffuse reflection hazard calculations | Establishing the laser hazard area and plotting of a laser hazard area template.

Classification: Coverage of classification principles and rules stated in the product safety standard | Evaluation of the Accessible Emission Limit (AEL) for CW and pulsed lasers | AS/NZS IEC 60825 rules for hazard classification assignment and establishing calculated/measured accessible emission levels | Hazard classification assignment for CW and pulses lasers of single and multiple wavelengths.

Course Material

The following resources will be provided to attendees of this course:

1. Course notes will be provided (printed and online).