IEC TR 60825-17:2015
(Main)Safety of laser products - Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and optical cables in high power optical fibre communication systems
Safety of laser products - Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and optical cables in high power optical fibre communication systems
IEC TR 60825-17:2015(E) recommends safety measures to protect against effects caused exclusively by thermal, opto-mechanical and related effects in passive optical components and optical cables used in high power optical fibre communication systems. It does not apply to the use of high power optical systems in explosive atmospheres or the use of optical fibres in material processing machines. Throughout this part of IEC 60825, a reference to laser is taken to include light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and optical amplifiers. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2010. This edition constitutes a technical revision.
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IEC TR 60825-17 ®
Edition 2.0 2015-10
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Safety of laser products –
Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and optical cables
in high power optical fibre communication systems
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IEC TR 60825-17 ®
Edition 2.0 2015-10
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Safety of laser products –
Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and optical
cables in high power optical fibre communication systems
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 31.260; 33.180.01 ISBN 978-2-8322-2959-0
– 2 – IEC TR 60825-17:2015 © IEC 2015
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Recommendations . 8
4.1 General considerations – the background to optical fibre damage at high
powers . 8
4.2 Fibre coating damage occurring when bending at high powers . 8
4.3 Information on automatic power reduction (APR) . 9
4.4 Information for manufacturers, operating organizations and users . 10
4.5 Fibre and connector damage induced by high optical powers . 11
4.5.1 Fibre fuse and other effects . 11
4.5.2 Contamination particles . 12
4.6 Degradation or burn-through of dust cap and/or shutter . 12
4.7 Potentially collimated beam profile resulting in an increased optical hazard . 12
4.7.1 General . 12
4.7.2 High power expanded beam connectors . 13
4.8 Increases in the temperatures of attenuators, collimators, splitters and other
passive components . 13
4.9 Additional labelling . 14
Bibliography . 15
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –
Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and
optical cables in high power optical fibre communication systems
FOREWORD
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The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. However, a
technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical Report when it has collected
data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard, for
example "state of the art".
IEC TR 60825-17, which is a Technical Report, has been prepared by IEC technical
committee TC 76: Optical radiation safety and laser equipment.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2010. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
The changes with respect to the previous edition include changes to harmonize with SC86A
and SC86B documents.
– 4 – IEC TR 60825-17:2015 © IEC 2015
The text of this Technical Report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
76/510/DTR 76/526/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Report 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.
A list of all parts of the IEC 60825 series, published under the general title Safety of laser
products, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.
INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth of applications such as the internet and business intranets requiring high
bitrates has caused a dramatic increase in the need for high capacity data connections. This
increase in capacity has resulted in a requirement for a corresponding increase in power
levels used in optical fibre communications systems. There are a number of areas of concern
including but not exclusively the use of erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA), high power
dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems, and Raman amplification.
The power levels associated with these systems are typically greater than 500 mW
(i.e. Class 4), but some studies have shown additional thermal effects can occur at lower
powers. These additional thermal and related hazards mean that it is necessary to address a
number of new issues. It should be noted that the vast majority of these systems use single-
mode fibre.
– 6 – IEC TR 60825-17:2015 © IEC 2015
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –
Part 17: Safety aspects for use of passive optical components and
optical cables in high power optical fibre communication systems
1 Scope
This part of IEC 60825 recommends safety measures to protect against effects caused
exclusively by thermal, opto-mechanical and related effects in passive optical components
and optical cables used in high power optical fibre communication systems.
This part of IEC 60825 does not apply to the use of high power optical systems in explosive
atmospheres or the use of optical fibres in material processing machines. Throughout this part
of IEC 60825, a reference to ‘laser’ is taken to include light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and optical
amplifiers.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and
are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 60825-1:2014, Safety of laser products – Part 1: Equipment classification and
requirements
IEC 60825-2:2004, Safety of laser products – Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communication
systems (OFCS)
IEC 60825-2:2004/AMD1:2006
IEC 60825-2:2004/AMD2:2010
ITU-T Recommendation G.664, Optical safety procedures and requirements for optical
transmission systems
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
automatic laser shutdown
ALS
technique (procedure) to automatically shutdown the output power of laser transmitters and
optical amplifiers to avoid exposure to hazardous levels
3.2
automatic power reduction
APR
feature of an optical fibre communication system (OFCS) by which the accessible power is
reduced to a specified level within a specified time, whenever there is an event which could
result in human exposure to radiation, e.g. a fibre cable break
___________
A consolidated edition 3.2 exists, including IEC 60825-2:2004 and its Amendment 1 and Amendment 2.
Note 1 to entry: The term “automatic power reduct
...
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