The problem of contradictions in the normative base of laser safety

The wide use of laser technology in various spheres of human activity, especially, observed in recent years the mass distribution of various civil laser products, requires the application of effective measures of the state regulation of the safe use of laser products. Laser radiation is referred to the category of hazardous and harmful physical factors of influence, since it can inflict irreparable harm to the human visual apparatus. Measures of the State regulation include the development and effective application of regulatory documents that provide laser safety both in human production and in everyday life. By the beginning of the 1990s, in Russia there was basically developed a regulatory base, relied upon the application of safety indices for laser products ((Maximum permissible levels of laser radiation and hazard classes of laser products), regulated in the “Sanitary norms and rules for the design and operation of lasers” No. 5804-91. In recent years, in the territory of the Russian Federation there have been introduced national standards, identical to IEC standards of IEC 60825 series. The safety indices regulated in these standards turned out to be much softer compared to the similar indices specified in SN # 5804-91. The introduction of the IEC 60825 series standards significantly reduces the level of the safety of laser technology and leads to the disorientation of the domestic manufacturer and consumer of laser products. In this paper, a critical analysis of laser safety indices, regulated in the standards of the series IEC 60825, was conducted and there was made an assessment of the legality of the introduction of such standards in the territory of the Russian Federation.