The international laser safety standard for fiber optic communications systems is:
IEC 60825-2 Ed. 4.0 2021-03, ‘Safety of laser products Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communications systems (OFCS)’, table D.1
Equivalent USA standards are administered by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) under 21CFR1040.10. This standard generally defers to the IEC standard for product classification and labelling.
Laser safety classes relevant to Kingfisher Test Equipment are:
- Most infra-red test sources and VFL pens are Class 1. This means they are eye safe, with no special precautions needed.
- Some high power VFL instruments are up to Class 2M power output, and some precautions may be required for these.
Class 2 devices are visible, so the "eye aversion" or "blink" response will cause the user to look away before eye damage is caused, allowing a higher safe level. The "M" suffix means that an unfiltered magnifying device must not be used.
Power meters don't emit light, but safety precautions will need to match the maximum light level that could be emitted from an attached fiber.
| |
Hazard Level
For core diameter SM 11 µm and MM 50 µm core NA=0.18 |
| Wavelength & fibre type |
1 |
1M |
2 |
2M |
3R |
3B |
633 nm
(MM) |
2 mW
+2.9 dBm |
3.8 mW
+5.8 dBm |
5 mW
+7 dBm |
9.7 mW
+9.9 dBm |
25 mW
+14 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
780 nm
(MM) |
2.8 mW
+4.5 dBm |
5.4 mW
+7.4 dBm |
|
|
14.5 mW
+11.6 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
850 nm
(MM) |
3.9 mW
+5.9 dBm |
7.5 mW
+8.8 dBm |
|
|
20 mW
+13 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
980 nm
(SM) |
1.8 mW
+2.5 dBm |
2.7 mW
+4.2 dBm |
|
|
9.2 mW
+9.6 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
1310 nm
(MM) |
481 mW
+26.8 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
|
|
500 mW
+27 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
1310 nm
(SM) |
166 mW
+22.2 dBm |
277 mW
+24.4 dBm |
|
|
500 mW
+27 dBm |
500 mW
+27 dBm |
1420 nm
(SM) |
10.1 mW
+10 dBm |
115 mW
+20.6 dBm |
|
|
|
500 mW
+27 dBm |
1550 nm
(SM) |
10.2 mW
+10.1 dBm |
136 mW
+21.3 dBm |
|
|
|
500 mW
+27 dBm |
