By Geoff Giordano

After 15 years with LIA, Education Director Gus Anibarro has plenty of stories to tell from his experiences teaching hundreds of laser safety officers (LSOs) and laser users how to safely use these powerful tools.

He can tell you about the retinal damage and painful skin burns — and worse. He can tell you about the non-beam hazards, like compressed gas cylinders that have exploded and blasted through concrete walls. He can tell you how, while auditing laser equipment at a particular facility, he’s found lasers that hadn’t been accounted for in inventory.

“The most notable skin injuries are holes through fingers and third-degree burns,” he said during his safety presentation at the inaugural Lasers for Manufacturing Event^® (LME^®) in 2011. “I have heard of amputations when people have accidentally put their hand in the path of a beam. I have heard of people (who have) gotten a best-buy date marked right into their forearm.”

Preventing such dire events is the job of a proper laser safety program. Continue reading →