Laser Welding Eyewear and Helmets
Protect your eyes from laser energy and welding flash
Laser welding safety requires compliance with laser, welding, and impact safety standards. The operator, being most at risk, should wear a tested/certified laser welding helmet with ANSI Z87+ impact tested laser safety eyewear underneath. For clarification, this is not due to protective shortcomings of the certified laser welding helmet. It is due to the tendency to raise your welding hood during the process for better visibility. Redundant protection helps to eliminate risks associated with old habits and forgetfulness. Everyone inside the laser-controlled area is required to wear laser safety eyewear with an optical density (OD) of 6 or greater at the wavelength of 1070nm (based on 2kW 1070nm laser welders).
Laser Protection: The laser in your system is very powerful, the laser welding operator is very close to the invisible laser energy. So ANSI Z136 compliant laser safety eye protection must be worn under the specialized laser protective welding helmet. The eyewear should be certified and marked for a high level of protection (high Optical Density or “OD”) and should have a high damage threshold. The laser eye protection should be in the helmet to provide full face protection through the welding view port. The laser eye protection should also be worn under the helmet to supplement protection for up-close and high-powered handheld systems. This second layer of laser protection also mitigates risk if the laser fires while the helmet is not in place.
Welding Shade Protection: Your process will generate flash and beams of very bright, very hazardous light, so ANSI Z87.1 specified welding helmet filters should be selected. Your helmet should either be at a fixed shade level appropriate for your application, or the auto-darkening screen should respond quickly and shift to a safe and dark shade. Your helmet or shell must be opaque to laser light. Most helmets transmit far IR light.
Impact Protection: You are working in a production environment, so ANSI Z87+ impact-certified safety glasses are a must. OSHA guidelines recommend that this “first line of protection” article be worn under all welding helmets because such helmets typically are considered secondary protection, and the operator lifts the front to view once welding is completed due to the dark welding window in the helmet.