Eye Safety Std Update
All,
Here is further information on the progress of the IEC 60825 Laser Safety
standard, which affects the PMD specifications. This is extracted from a
meeting report written by Jane Ehrgott, Lucent's representative to the TC76
standard committee.
Regards,
Paul Kolesar
Lucent Technologies
TC 76 Meeting Overview
IEC 60825 - Safety of Laser Products
Mishima, Japan
November 13-17, 2000
1. Second Amendment to IEC 60825 Part 1
IEC 60825 Part 1 is the foundation document for laser
product safety to which all application documents refer. The second
amendment to IEC 60825 Part 1 eliminates classes 2A and 3A and replaces them
with classes 2M and 1M & 3R, respectively. It also changes some of the
measurement criteria associated with the classes. The FDIS for this change
was approved unanimously. It is expected to be published as a "changes
only" document by the end of 2000 and as a completely integrated document
some time in 2001. Companies can begin using the classification scheme once
the "changes only" document is published.
2. Revision of IEC 60825 Part 2
IEC 60825 Part 2 is the application document with respect to laser
safety of optical fiber communication systems. In it there are requirements
that must be met by products that use fiber optics. In its current form, it
refers to the current classification scheme of the Part 1 document which
will become obsolete upon the publication of the new changes (see item 1).
At the Mishima meeting, Ehrgott issued a green paper urging that Part 2 be
altered in an expedited fashion so as to eliminate conflicts between Parts 1
and 2. As a result, after conferring with IEC/Geneva, it was decided to
produce a short document in the form of a CDV stating how the new classes
introduced in Part 1 relate to the requirements of Part 2. Agreement was
reach on the required wording which appears in Attachment 1 below. A CDV
requires a 5 month voting duration. After that, it is expected that this
document may be issued as a technical specification. No objections were
raised at the plenary to go forward with this document. As a second item, a
full amendment to part 2 (this process would take several years) will be
worked on, with Feb 1 2001 for a first working draft to the Working Group.
Attachment 1
CDV
Draft Document for interpretation of IEC 60825-2 following the publication
of IEC 60825-1 Amendment 2
1. For all normative sections, including Annex B
* Replace "Hazard Level 2" with "Hazard Level 2 or Hazard Level 2M, as
appropriate"
* Replace "Hazard Level 3A" with "Hazard Level 1M or Hazard Level 3R,
as appropriate"
* In Annex B, 3B Hazard Level, controlled location column, replace
"Hazard Level kx3A" with "Hazard Level 1M or 2M"
* Delete all remaining references to Hazard Level kx3A
2. In Table 1 of Paragraph 4.4.2, the limiting aperture values for IEC
60825-1 Amendment 2 shall be substituted
3. Delete all informative annexes
4. All classification and hazard level evaluation shall be made in
accordance with IEC 60825-1 Amendment 2.
Note: The entire IEC 60825-2 will be urgently revised and annexes reinstated
consistent with IEC 60825-1 Amendment 2