Systematic development of safe high performance laser applications - Knowing the limits of conventional systems

The advent of modern laser beam sources, like fiber and disk laser beam sources, led to laser applications for economic mass production. Their laser beam is highly brilliant, highly energetic and invisible. In some laser applications, the beam can be oriented without spatial limitations. The risk potential is increased, compared to conventional systems and the conventional safety technology is extremely challenged. Conceivable claims are personal injuries like blindness, burns, long-tail claims or even death, as well as material damage. According to the standards, those claims should be avoided by laser safety barriers. Those barriers are merely a delay element to gain time until the beam breaks through a wall. A modern holistic safety concept for a laser application meets the requirements of the process and the definitions of the accepted error margins. Furthermore, risks need to be identified and rated with risk assessments. Those risks have to be reduced via economical concepts for custom tailored laser safety, for example with conventional passive safety components or otherwise modern active ones.