Lasers are used in industry in a huge variety of applications. Due to its unique nature, lasers have found applications in almost every field of human activity like Medical, Aerospace, Defence and across all engineering industries.
These applications can be divided between those that involve processing of materials and all other applications. Material processing includes cutting, drilling, welding, etc., and generally involves use of high power lasers. Growth in use of laser in industries has increased manifold and consistently growing at an exponential pace In India.
Safe practices and proper usage of safety equipment should be taken into consideration when operating lasers. The eyes are susceptible to injury even from very low levels of laser light. Laser emission from visible and infrared spectral ranges has the greatest potential for retinal injury as cornea and lens are transparent to those wavelengths and the lens can focus the laser energy to retina.
Hence laser goggles form an important part of Occupational Health And Safety procedures (OSHAS). Even a diffusive reflection from metallic surface and watches, screwdriver or jewellery of the operator also adds to the risk of injury.
Powerful lasers are taking up comprehensive jobs like tissue cutting in biomedical engineering to hardest known naturally occurring substance like diamond. These applications are based on, wavelength, frequency and power of the laser beam.
Unlike normal light, laser light is focused that makes the beam more powerful. Lasers can be designed of any wavelength from Ultra violet to visible to infrared. Since human eyes can only observe through visible light, extra attention is required while handling lasers apart from visible wavelength. Great care must be taken while handling these lasers. According to FDA statistics there are more than 10,000 severe eye injuries due to powerful lasers.
"To imbibe safety in industrial practices and ensure that we need to create an environment when employees feel safe about working environment. It creates an impact on working minds to work in peace leading to higher satisfaction and productivity. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure safe environment for the employees," added Sakhamuri.
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