IEC 60825-12:2004

Safety of laser products - Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for transmission of information

This part of IEC 60825 provides requirements and specific guidance for the manufacture and safe use of laser products and systems used for point-to-point or point-to-multipoint free space optical data transmission. This standard only addresses the open beam portion of the system. If portions of the equipment or system incorporate optical fibre that extends from the confinements of the enclosure(s), the manufacturing and safety requirements under IEC 60825-1 apply to those portions only. This standard does not apply to systems designed for purposes of transmitting optical power for applications such as material processing or medical treatment. This standard also does not apply to the use of systems in explosive atmospheres. The objective of this part of IEC 60825 is to: - provide information to protect people from potentially hazardous optical radiation produced by free space optical communication systems (FSOCS) by specifying engineering controls and requirements, administrative controls and work practices according to the degree of the hazard; - specify requirements for manufacturing, installation, service and operating organisations in order to establish procedures and provide written information so that proper precautions can be adopted.

Sécurité des appareils à laser - Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communications optiques en espace libre utilisés pour la transmission d'informations

La présente partie de la CEI 60825 donne des exigences et des directives spécifiques relatives à la fabrication et à l'utilisation sans aucun risque des appareils à laser et des systèmes employés pour la transmission optique de données en espace libre, d'un point à un autre ou d'un point à plusieurs autres points. Cette norme ne traite que de la partie du faisceau qui se propage dans un espace ouvert du système. Si des parties de l'équipement ou du système comprennent une fibre optique qui s'étend au-delà des limites de confinement de l'enveloppe ou des enveloppes, les exigences de fabrication et de sécurité de la CEI 60825-1 ne doivent s'appliquer qu'à ces parties. Cette norme ne s'applique pas aux systèmes conçus dans le but de transmettre un flux énergétique optique pour des applications telles que le traitement des matériaux ou le traitement médical. Cette norme ne s'applique pas non plus à l'utilisation des systèmes en atmosphères explosives. L'objectif de cette partie de la CEI 60825 est de: - fournir des informations pour protéger les personnes contre le rayonnement optique potentiellement dangereux produit par les systèmes de communication optique en espace libre (SCOEL ou FSOCS), en spécifiant les moyens de contrôle et les exigences techniques, les moyens de contrôle administratif et les règles de travail en fonction du degré de danger; - spécifier des exigences à l'usage des organismes assurant la fabrication, l'installation, le réglage/l'entretien et l'exploitation, afin d'établir des procédures et de fournir des informations écrites, de sorte que des précautions appropriées puissent être prises.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 11-Feb-2004
• ICS: 31.260 - Optoelectronics. Laser equipment
• Technical Committee: TC 76 - Optical radiation safety and laser equipment
• Drafting Committee: WG 5 - TC 76/WG 5
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Completion Date: 08-Feb-2019

Relations

• Revised: IEC 60825-12:2019 - Safety of laser products - Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for transmission of information
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD
60825-12
First edition
2004-02
Safety of laser products –
Part 12:
Safety of free space optical communication
systems used for transmission of information

Reference number
Publication numbering
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60000 series. For example, IEC 34-1 is now referred to as IEC 60034-1.

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edition numbers 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 refer, respectively, to the base publication, the

base publication incorporating amendment 1 and the base publication incorporating

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INTERNATIONAL IEC
STANDARD
60825-12
First edition
2004-02
Safety of laser products –
Part 12:
Safety of free space optical communication
systems used for transmission of information

 IEC 2004  Copyright - all rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
International Electrotechnical Commission, 3, rue de Varembé, PO Box 131, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
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International Electrotechnical Commission
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For price, see current catalogue

– 2 – 60825-12  IEC:2004(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3

1 Scope.5

2 Normative references .6

3 Terms and definitions .6

4 Requirements .9

4.1 General remarks.9
4.2 Access level and classification requirements by location type.11
4.3 Classification.17
4.4 Determination of access level.19
4.5 Installation protection systems (IPS) .19
4.6 Specular reflections.19
4.7 Organisational requirements.19
Annex A (informative) Examples of applications and calculations.23
Annex B (informative) Methods of hazard/safety analysis.30
Annex C (informative) Guidance for installing, servicing and operating organisations.31
Bibliography.33
Figure 1 – Commercial structures .11
Figure 2 – Residential areas .11
Figure 3 – Examples of external location types .12
Figure 4 – Class 1M or 2M transmitter near edge of unrestricted rooftop.13
Figure 5 – Class 1M transmitter in unrestricted location .14
Figure 6 – Class 3R transmitter in restricted location .16
Table 1 – Restrictions for product classes and access levels .10
Table 2 – Requirements for warning signs .22

60825-12  IEC:2004(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems

used for transmission of information

FOREWORD
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9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
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International Standard IEC 60825-12 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 76:

Optical radiation safety and laser equipment.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
76/281/FDIS 76/285/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

– 4 – 60825-12  IEC:2004(E)
IEC consists of the following parts, under the general title: Safety of laser products:

Part 1: Part 1: Equipment classification, requirements and user's guide

Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communication systems

Part 3: Guidance for laser displays and shows

Part 4: Laser guards
Part 5: Manufacturer's checklist for IEC 60825-1

Part 6: Safety of products with optical sources, exclusively used for visible information

transmission to the human eye
Part 7: Safety of products emitting infrared optical radiation, exclusively used for wireless
'free air' data transmission and surveillance
Part 8: Guidelines for the safe use of medical laser equipment
Part 9: Compilation of maximum permissible exposure to incoherent optical radiation
Part 10: Application guidelines and explanatory notes to IEC 60825-1
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for transmission of
information
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
2008. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
60825-12  IEC:2004(E) – 5 –
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems

used for transmission of information

1 Scope
This part of IEC 60825 provides requirements and specific guidance for the manufacture and
safe use of laser products and systems used for point-to-point or point-to-multipoint free
space optical data transmission. This standard only addresses the open beam portion of the
system. If portions of the equipment or system incorporate optical fibre that extends from the
confinements of the enclosure(s), the manufacturing and safety requirements under IEC
60825-1 apply to those portions only. This standard does not apply to systems designed for
purposes of transmitting optical power for applications such as material processing or medical
treatment. This standard also does not apply to the use of systems in explosive atmospheres.
Throughout this part of IEC 60825, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are included whenever the
word “laser” is used.
The objective of this part of IEC 60825 is to:
• provide information to protect people from potentially hazardous optical radiation produced
by free space optical communication systems (FSOCS) by specifying engineering controls
and requirements, administrative controls and work practices according to the degree of
the hazard;
• specify requirements for manufacturing, installation, service and operating organisations in
order to establish procedures and provide written information so that proper precautions
can be adopted.
Because of the nature of FSOCS, also known as optical wireless or free-air information
transmission systems, care must be taken in their manufacture as well as their installation,
operation, maintenance and service to assure the safe deployment and use of these systems.
This standard places the responsibility for certain product safety requirements, as well as
requirements for providing appropriate information on how to use these systems safely, on the
manufacturer of the system and/or transmitters. It places the responsibility for the safe
deployment and use of these systems on the installer and/or operating organisation. It places
the responsibility for adherence to safety instructions during installation and service

operations on the installation and service organisations as appropriate, and during operation
and maintenance functions on the operating organisation. It is recognised that the user of this
standard may fall into one or more of the categories of manufacturer, installer, service
organisation and/or operating organisation as mentioned above.
Any laser product is exempt from all further requirements of this part of IEC 60825 if
• classification by the manufacturer according to IEC 60825-1 shows that the emission level
does not exceed the accessible emission limit (AEL) of Class 1 under all conditions of
operation, maintenance, service and failure, and
• it does not contain an embedded laser product.

– 6 – 60825-12  IEC:2004(E)
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.

For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition

of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

IEC 60825-1:1993, Safety of laser products – Part 1: Equipment classification, requirements

and user’s guide
Amendment 1 (1997)
Amendment 2 (2001)
IEC 60825-2, Safety of laser products – Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communication systems
3 Terms and definitions
3.1
access level
potential hazard at any accessible position associated with a free space optical
communication system (FSOCS) installation
NOTE 1 The ac
...

IEC 60825-12
Edition 1.0 2004-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Safety of laser products –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for
transmission of information
Sécurité des appareils à laser –
Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communications optiques en espace libre
utilisés pour la transmission d’informations

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IEC 60825-12
Edition 1.0 2004-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Safety of laser products –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for
transmission of information
Sécurité des appareils à laser –
Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communications optiques en espace libre
utilisés pour la transmission d’informations

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
W
CODE PRIX
ICS 31.260 ISBN 2-8318-7802-0
– 2 – 60825-12 © CEI:2004
SOMMAIRE
AVANT-PROPOS.4

1 Domaine d'application .8

2 Références normatives.10

3 Termes et définitions .10

4 Exigences .18

4.1 Remarques générales .18

4.2 Exigences de niveau d'accès et de classification par type de zone .20
4.3 Classification.34
4.4 Détermination des niveaux d'accès.38
4.5 Systèmes de protection d'une installation (SPI) .40
4.6 Réflexions spéculaires .40
4.7 Exigences d'organisation.40

Annexe A (informative) Exemples d'applications et de calculs.48
Annexe B (informative) Méthodes d'analyse du danger/de la sécurité .66
Annexe C (informative) Directives destinées aux organismes d'installation, de
réglage/d'entretien et d'exploitation.68

Bibliographie.72

Figure 1 – Bâtiment commercial.22
Figure 2 – Lieu résidentiel .22
Figure 3 – Exemples de types de zone externe.24
Figure 4 – Emetteur de classe 1M ou 2M près du bord d'une toiture à accès non limité .26
Figure 5 – Emetteur de classe 1M dans des zones à accès non limité .28
Figure 6 – Emetteur de classe 3R dans une zone à accès limité .32
Figure A.1 – Liaison entre deux zones séparées par une distance importante.58

Tableau 1 – Limitations relatives aux classes d'appareils et aux niveaux d'accès .20

Tableau 2 – Exigences relatives aux panneaux d'avertissement .46

60825-12 © IEC:2004 – 3 –
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.5

1 Scope.9

2 Normative references .11

3 Terms and definitions .11

4 Requirements .19

4.1 General remarks.19
4.2 Access level and classification requirements by location type.21
4.3 Classification.35
4.4 Determination of access level.39
4.5 Installation protection systems (IPS) .41
4.6 Specular reflections.41
4.7 Organisational requirements.41

Annex A (informative) Examples of applications and calculations.49
Annex B (informative) Methods of hazard/safety analysis.67
Annex C (informative)  Guidance for installing, servicing and operating organisations.69

Bibliography.73

Figure 1 – Commercial structures .23
Figure 2 – Residential areas .23
Figure 3 – Examples of external location types .25
Figure 4 – Class 1M or 2M transmitter near edge of unrestricted rooftop.27
Figure 5 – Class 1M transmitter in unrestricted location .29
Figure 6 – Class 3R transmitter in restricted location .33
Figure A.1 – Link between two widely separated locations .59

Table 1 – Restrictions for product classes and access levels .21

Table 2 – Requirements for warning signs .47

– 4 – 60825-12 © CEI:2004
COMMISSION ÉLECTROTECHNIQUE INTERNATIONALE

____________
SÉCURITÉ DES APPAREILS À LASER –

Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communications optiques

en espace libre utilisés pour la transmission d'informations

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