LSO 14: Industrial & Research Laser Safety Flashcards
What are the industrial use of lasers?
cutting, drilling, welding, marking and heat treating
What is laser cutting?
Heavily used in industrial manufacturing, used by schools, small businesses and by hobbyists
What are advantages over mechanical cutting?
Easier to hold the materials in place while cutting the device
Reduced contamination of workpiece
Increased precision
Reduced chance of warping
Can cut materials that are impossible to cut by other means
What is advantage over plasma cutting
its more precise and uses less energy
How does laser drilling work?
It’s either melting or vaporization of the workpiece
pulse duration and energy are important to determining wich process dominates
What are the advantages of laser drilling?
allow to drill the hole that has shallow angles compared to the surface
What is laser welding?
Beam acts as concentrated heat source to join several pieces of metal
high power density creates a small heat affected zone that heats quickly and also cools quickly
What are advantages of laser welding?
capable of welding a variety of different materials, higher quality of welds, faster welds
What are three main lasers used in industrial applications
Nd, Nd-YAG, Co2
What are common machine configurations of industrial laser cutting machines?
Moving material, hybrid and flying optics
What is moving material laser?
requires moving the workpiece, limited in the size of the materials you can cut
What is flying optics laser?
Fasted laser
Which type of industrial laser has a workpiece that remains stationary?
Flying optics
What are relevant safety standards?
ANSI Z136.9 and or Z136.1
OSHA 29CFR 1910
What is ANSI Z136.9 ( 2013)
Used of laser in manufacturing and industrial environment
Scope:
Applications include but are not limited to: 180nm-1mm
OSHA: 29CFR1910
But comply with relevant standards: PPE: Eye and face protection, Respiratory protection, control of hazardous energy
OSHA Technical Manual
Assist OSHA compliance officers, useful reference for companies
Why is the use of these lasers such a concern when these types of processes are already pretty dangerous?
Invisible and obscured by other equipment
What are industrial laser hazards?
radiation, fire, fumes and mists, mechanical, electric sock, eye and skin damage
What is radiation hazards ?
Blue light and UV radiation- often reflected off of the workpiece and in to surrounding work areas
Hazards controls-Radiation
shielding, distance and PPE
Hazards-Fire
Class 4 lasers capable of cutting, welding and drilling through metals,
keep flammables away from the laser use area
cover and protect anything flammable or combustible that may be in the area,
Keep good housekeeping
Hazards- Fumes and Mists
Cutting, welding and drilling.
Composition depends upon the metal
Negative health effects: respiratory irritant, carcinogen, metal fume fever
Respiratory protection is always the last line of defense
Appropriate use of local exhaust ventilation
Hazards-Mechanical
Robot strikes, optical delivery or manipulation malfunction
make sure, there is laser housing is in place whenever the laser is in operation
For robotic operations, ensure the robot area is properly guarded
Hazards- Electric Shock
beam housing open- accidental exposure to electric components
One of the leading causes of death associated with industrial laser systems
only trained and authorized personnel should perform any maintenance or service on lasers
WHen housing is removed to perform electrical work, utilize lockout-tag out
follow accepted electrical safety practices:
verify system and all capacitors discharged, no jewelry, never work alone, use non-conductive tools
What are eye and skin hazard from industrial laser?
Class 4 lasers present hazard from : Intrabeam viewing, specular reflections and diffuse reflections
What are research laser applications?
Flow Cytometry: cell counting, cell sorting, biomarker detection, protein bioengineering
WHat is confocal laser scanning microscopy?
create high-resolution images with dept sensitive
Laser use for nuclear fusion research
Shorter half-life waste, lasers are heavily used in fusion research
one type of fusion: Inertial confinement fusion: compression and heating of fuel
Spectroscopy?
How matter and radiation interact, laser focused on material to analysed and excites samples, emitted light is collected and analysed
ANSI Z136.8
Safe use of lasers in Research, development or testing
ANSI Z136.8
laser use in research development and testing, to include but not be limited to universities, product development laboratories, private and public research labs
Several unique challenges addressed:
Production and use of home built ,varying output characteristic and beam paths, custom built housings, large volume of users
An industrial laser has been acquired by a university for use in a lab to help manufacture components for a research project. Which ANSI standard is most appropriate for this type of work?
ANSI Z136.9 ( since you are using to manufacture some components) just used by research group doesn’t mean research use of lase
What are home-built lasers?
often not certified to meet CDRH safety requirements.
What are hazard controls for home-built lasers?
Ask abt new lasers and verify audits
Ensure all lasers are classified
Labeled
Appropriate controls are place
