IEC 60825-12:2019

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

IEC 60825-12:2019 is available as IEC 60825-12:2019 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.
IEC 60825-12:2019 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 in the wavelength range from 180 nm to 1 mm. This document 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 in IEC 60825-2 apply to those portions only. This document does not apply to systems designed for the purposes of transmitting optical power for applications such as material processing or medical treatment. This document also does not apply to the use of systems in explosive atmospheres (see IEC 60079-0). Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) employed by free space optical communication systems (FSOCSs), used for the purpose of free space optical data transmission, do not fall into the scope of this document. This document covers lasers employed by FSOCSs used for the purpose of free space optical data transmission. This document:
• provides information to protect people from potentially hazardous optical radiation produced by FSOCSs by specifying engineering controls and requirements, administrative controls and work practices according to the degree of the hazard; and
• specifies requirements for manufacturing, installation, service and operating organizations in order to establish procedures and provide written information so that proper precautions can be adopted.
Because of the nature of FSOCSs, also known as optical wireless or free-air information transmission systems, care is taken in their manufacture as well as their installation, operation, maintenance and service to assure the safe deployment and use of these systems. This document 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 organization. It places the responsibility for adherence to safety instructions during installation and service operations on the installation and service organizations as appropriate, and during operation and maintenance functions on the operating organization. It is recognized that the user of this document may fall into one or more of the categories of manufacturer, installer, service organization and/or operating organization as mentioned above. This document does not apply to a laser product 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 reasonably foreseeable failure.
Key words: Laser products, Free space optical data, Free space optical communication.

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

IEC 60825-12:2019 est disponible sous forme de IEC 60825-12:2019 RLV qui contient la Norme internationale et sa version Redline, illustrant les modifications du contenu technique depuis l'édition précédente.
L'IEC 60825-12:2019 donne des exigences et des recommandations spécifiques relatives à la fabrication et à l'utilisation en toute sécurité 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, dans la plage de longueurs d’onde comprise entre 180 nm et 1 mm. Le présent document 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 sort des limites de confinement de l'enveloppe ou des enveloppes, les exigences de fabrication et de sécurité de l’IEC 60825-2 ne s'appliquent qu'à ces parties. Le présent document 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. Le présent document ne s'applique pas non plus à l'utilisation des systèmes en atmosphères explosives (voir l’IEC 60079-0). Les diodes électroluminescentes (LED) employées par les systèmes de communication optique en espace libre (SCOEL), pour la transmission optique de données en espace libre, ne font pas partie du domaine d’application du présent document. Le présent document couvre les lasers employés par les SCOEL utilisés dans le cadre de la transmission optique de données en espace libre. Le présent document:
• fournit des informations pour protéger les personnes contre le rayonnement optique potentiellement dangereux produit par les SCOEL, 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; et
• spécifie des exigences à l'usage des organismes assurant la fabrication, l'installation, 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.
En raison de la nature des SCOEL, également connus sous le nom de systèmes optiques de transmission d'informations sans fil ou à l'air libre, des précautions sont prises lors de leur fabrication comme lors de leur installation, exploitation, maintenance et entretien, pour assurer un déploiement et une utilisation en toute sécurité. Le présent document établit la responsabilité du fabricant du système et/ou des émetteurs vis-à-vis de certaines exigences de sécurité du produit, ainsi que des exigences destinées à fournir des informations appropriées sur la manière d'utiliser ces systèmes en toute sécurité. Il fixe la responsabilité de l'installateur et/ou de l'organisme d'exploitation vis-à-vis du déploiement et de l'utilisation en toute sécurité de ces systèmes. Il définit, comme il convient, la responsabilité des organismes d'installation et d'entretien vis-à-vis de leur respect des instructions de sécurité, pendant les opérations d'installation et d'entretien et de l'organisme d'exploitation vis-à-vis des fonctions d'exploitation et de maintenance. Il est manifeste que l'utilisateur du présent document peut relever d'une ou de plusieurs catégories, celle(s) du fabricant, de l'installateur, de l'organisme d'entretien et/ou de l'organisme d'exploitation, comme mentionnées ci-dessus. Le présent document ne s’applique pas à un appareil à laser si la classification par le fabricant, selon l’IEC 60825-1, montre que son niveau d'émission ne dépasse pas la limite d’émission accessible (LEA) de la classe 1 dans toutes les conditions d'exploitation, de maintenance, d'entretien et de défaillance raisonnablement prévisible.
Mots-clés: Appareils à laser, Optique de données en espace libre, Communication optique en espace libre

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 07-Feb-2019
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• 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
• Start Date: 30-Jun-2020
• Completion Date: 20-Dec-2022

Relations

• Revises: IEC 60825-12:2004 - Safety of laser products - Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for transmission of information
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023
• Revised: IEC 60825-12:2022 - 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)

IEC 60825-12 ®
Edition 2.0 2019-02
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Safety of laser products –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for
transmission of information
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, 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

either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or

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About the IEC
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International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

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IEC 60825-12 ®
Edition 2.0 2019-02
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Safety of laser products –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for

transmission of information
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 31.260 ISBN 978-2-8322-6559-8

– 2 – IEC 60825-12:2019 RLV © IEC 2019

CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4

1 Scope . 6

2 Normative references . 7

3 Terms and definitions . 7

4 Requirements . 12

4.1 General remarks . 12

4.2 Determination of access level . 13
4.2.1 General . 13
4.2.2 The use of Condition 2 . 13
4.2.3 The use of C7 . 16
4.3 Impact of using automatic power reduction features . 17
4.4 Access level and classification requirements by location type . 17
4.4.1 General . 17
4.4.2 Requirements for unrestricted locations . 19
4.4.3 Requirements for restricted locations . 23
4.4.4 Requirements for controlled locations . 24
4.4.5 Requirements for inaccessible space . 25
4.5 Classification . 25
4.5.1 General . 25
4.5.2 Automatic power reduction mechanisms (APR) . 26
4.6 Installation protection systems (IPS) . 27
4.7 Specular reflections . 27
4.8 Organizational requirements . 27
4.8.1 Requirements for manufacturers of ready-to-use FSOCS transmitters or
turn key systems. 27
4.8.2 Installation and service organization requirements . 29
4.8.3 Operating organization requirements . 30
Annex (informative) Examples of applications and calculations .
Annex A (informative) Methods of hazard/safety analysis . 38
Annex B (informative) Guidance for installing, servicing and operating organizations . 39
B.1 General Working practices for FSOCSs . 39
B.1.1 General . 39

B.1.2 General working practices . 39
B.1.3 Additional working practices for Class/access level 1M, 2M, 3R, 3B and
4 systems . 40
B.2 Education and training . 40
Bibliography . 41

Figure – Link between two widely separated locations .
Figure 1 – Commercial structures . 18
Figure 2 – Residential areas . 19
Figure 3 – Examples of external location types . 20
Figure 4 – Class 1M or 2M transmitter near edge of unrestricted rooftop . 21
Figure 5 – Class 1M transmitter in unrestricted location . 22
Figure 6 – Class 3R transmitter in restricted location . 24

Table 1 – Restrictions for product classes and access levels . 13

Table 2 – Measurement aperture diameters and distances for the default (simplified)

evaluation . 14

Table 3 – Requirements for warning signs . 30

– 4 – IEC 60825-12:2019 RLV © IEC 2019

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

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

systems used for transmission of information

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
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between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
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7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
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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

patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This redline version of the official IEC Standard allows the user to identify the changes
made to the previous edition. A vertical bar appears in the margin wherever a change
has been made. Additions are in green text, deletions are in strikethrough red text.

International Standard IEC 60825-12 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 76:
Optical radiation safety and laser equipment.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2004. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.

This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) LEDs have been removed from the scope.

b) Normative references have been changed to refer the latest edition of the standards.

c) A description of the Condition 2 measurement and determination method for access level
has been added.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
76/616/FDIS 76/617/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The 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 document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The “colour inside” logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding

of its contents. Users should therefore print this publication using a colour printer.

– 6 – IE
...

IEC 60825-12 ®
Edition 2.0 2019-02
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 communication optiques en espace libre
utilisés pour la transmission d'informations
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, 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
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About the IEC
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International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.
About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.
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and withdrawn publications. Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
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IEC 60825-12 ®
Edition 2.0 2019-02
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 communication optiques en espace libre
utilisés pour la transmission d'informations
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 31.260 ISBN 978-2-8322-6458-4
– 2 – IEC 60825-12:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Requirements . 11
4.1 General remarks . 11
4.2 Determination of access level . 13
4.2.1 General . 13
4.2.2 The use of Condition 2 . 13
4.2.3 The use of C7 . 16
4.3 Impact of using automatic power reduction features . 16
4.4 Access level and classification requirements by location type . 16
4.4.1 General . 16
4.4.2 Requirements for unrestricted locations . 18
4.4.3 Requirements for restricted locations . 22
4.4.4 Requirements for controlled locations . 23
4.4.5 Requirements for inaccessible space . 24
4.5 Classification . 24
4.5.1 General . 24
4.5.2 Automatic power reduction mechanisms (APR) . 25
4.6 Installation protection systems (IPS) . 26
4.7 Specular reflections . 26
4.8 Organizational requirements . 26
4.8.1 Requirements for manufacturers of ready-to-use FSOCS transmitters or
turn key systems. 26
4.8.2 Installation and service organization requirements . 28
4.8.3 Operating organization requirements . 29
Annex A (informative) Methods of hazard/safety analysis . 30
Annex B (informative) Guidance for installing, servicing and operating organizations . 31
B.1 Working practices for FSOCSs . 31
B.1.1 General . 31
B.1.2 General working practices . 31
B.1.3 Additional working practices for Class/access level 1M, 2M, 3R, 3B and
4 systems . 32
B.2 Education and training . 32
Bibliography . 33
Figure 1 – Commercial structures . 17
Figure 2 – Residential areas . 18
Figure 3 – Examples of external location types . 19
Figure 4 – Class 1M or 2M transmitter near edge of unrestricted rooftop . 20
Figure 5 – Class 1M transmitter in unrestricted location . 21
Figure 6 – Class 3R transmitter in restricted location . 23
Table 1 – Restrictions for product classes and access levels . 12

Table 2 – Measurement aperture diameters and distances for the default (simplified)
evaluation . 14
Table 3 – Requirements for warning signs . 29

– 4 – IEC 60825-12:2019 © IEC 2019
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication
systems used for transmission of information

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the e
...