The TALSO [Triangle Area Laser Safety Officers] group met August 14 at GSK's lovely facility in RTP.  Special thanks to Alvin Blount and GlaxoSmithKline for hosting this event.  

I. Welcome & Introduce new folks
- Several new TALSO members were introduced, including a large contingent from CommScope; Welcome!

II. Reviewed notes from Apr. 24 Meeting
- no changes/corrections noted

III. Technical Presentation: "Laser Safety Science" - Dale J. Payne, Ph.D.
- Dr. Payne provided an excellent overview of the laser bioeffects data underpinning the current ANSI guidance and offered some practical advice for laser safety programs

IV. Briefly Reviewed two laser safety articles in July/August '03 edition of LIA Today (including one by our own Tim Hitchcock!)

"Myths in Laser Safety" (Hitchcock); prompted discussion of appropriate LS update training intervals

www.laserinstitute.org/publications/lia_today/archive/articles/safetymyths/index.php3

"What Tools Does the Laser Safety Officer Need?" (Hemperly & Barat); Dr. Payne noted that in addition to the uses listed in this article, digital cameras also make dandy IR viewers for certain applications because these cameras respond to wavelengths well beyond the visible
http://www.laserinstitute.org/publications/lia_today/archive/articles/safety%20tools/index.php3

V. Any other business
- Noted the death of Laser Physicist & Laser Safety icon R. James Rockwell on June 22, 2003, also covered in July August '03 issue of LIA Today.
- Laser Protective eyewear news; Dr. Payne noted brief item in same issue of LIA today on new eyewear designed to protect against ultrashort pulsed lasers; Tim Hitchcock noted US military work currently underway for new advanced "protects against everything" broadband laser eye protection, which would be prohibitively expensive for civilian use today but that incorporates technology combinations that should eventually find their way into improved commercial eyewear.
- Discussion: How best to safeguard a laser cutting operation involving both 1064 nm Nd:YAG incident beam and intense broadband plasma radiation? Possible case study topic for future meeting

VI. Viewed a Medical Laser Safety poster that DUMC's Melissa Polkinghorne presented at recent AORN meeting

VII. Schedule next meeting: 2:30 PM on Thursday, November 13, 2003 at GSK!

List of potential discussion topics for upcoming meetings:

- Medical Surveillance (why, whom & how much?)
- Tracking high power diode lasers
- Appropriate fire-proof materials
- Handling multiple wavelength lasers (e.g. Ti:Sapphire)
- Release of class 3b & 4 lasers into surplus & unrestricted use
- List of low-cost solutions to laser safety challenges & "low hanging fruit" that get the most impact for the least resource expended in laser safety programs
- Emerging issue: high power LEDs
- Harmonization of international LS standards
- LS for ultra-short pulsed laser systems
- Knowing the unknowable: how to assess US laser accident rates when no one reports laser accidents
- Electrical Safety revisited
- Studying for the CLSO Exam: ideas and strategies
- Bring in a laser and demonstrate doing an alignment

- Case Study: hazard evaluation & control for Nd:YAG metal cutting operation