A12.1 Incident reporting

Significant occurrences in the eyes possibly relating to laser damage include: pain or discomfort, blurring of vision, loss of ability to read small print, or any unusual appearance or sensation, such as persistent ‘after-images’ following exposure to high intensity light in the visible range.

• A12.1.1 The procedure for accidents must be included in the standing orders for the laser activity.
  
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• A12.1.2 Any incident that results in exposure to laser radiation must be immediately reported to management (see SHE Safety Code 5 Incident Reporting and Investigation).
  
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• A12.1.3 STFC occupational health will arrange for a medical examination if:
  • there is reason to believe any person has been exposed in excess of an exposure limit value
  • for eye exposures this examination should be carried out within 24 hours of the exposure
  • any person is found through health surveillance to have an identifiable disease or adverse health effect to the skin, which in the opinion of a medical professional could be the result of exposure to artificial optical radiation
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• A12.1.4 STFC occupational health must ensure that a doctor or suitably qualified person:
  • Informs the person of the results of the examination
  • provides advice on whether ongoing health surveillance is appropriate
  • ensure it is kept informed about the outcome of any ongoing health surveillance that is carried out
  • The OLRO for the area in which the incident occurred must review the risk assessment
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• A12.1.6 In the event of a failure of a protective measure that could have led to an incident, laser emission must be terminated until a full assessment of the failure has been made and corrective action taken. The incident must be reported to the LRO and management notified as per local procedures (see SHE Safety Code 5 Incident Reporting and Investigation).
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• A12.1.7 In the unlikely event of an eye injury caused by an individual staring down the beam of a lower powered laser the emergency arrangements for high hazard lasers must be followed (A12.1.2 and A12.1.3).

A12.2 Health surveillance

Occupational health must arrange health surveillance if a risk assessment indicates that there is a risk of adverse health effects to the skin of any employee as a result of exposure to artificial optical radiation. This is most likely to arise from exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

A12.3 Return to work

Anyone returning from absence due to injury or disease of the eyes must notify occupational health before resuming work with lasers.