{"id":328,"date":"2013-10-29T13:33:40","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T13:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lucidos.co.uk\/?page_id=328"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:06:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:06:43","slug":"laser-distraction-hazards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/led-laser-safety\/laser-distraction-hazards\/","title":{"rendered":"Laser Distraction Hazards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Laser Distraction Hazards<\/h1><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

In many cases the hazard from laser pointers is not that they may damage\u00a0your eyes but that they might be bright enough to dazzle or distract you\u00a0while performing a safety-critical task like flying an aeroplane or driving\u00a0a car. There are no European standards for assessing laser distraction hazards\u00a0but American\u00a0flight zones<\/a> can be used as a guide. The normal zone is limited by\u00a0the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) and is the same as the laser safety\u00a0nominal ocular hazard distance (NOHD). The other zones use the ‘effective\u00a0irradiance’ which is the irradiance multiplied by a factor which accounts\u00a0for the visual response of the eye. This is factor is 1 at 555\u00a0nm\u00a0(yellowish green) and falls to zero in the UV or IR.<\/p>\n

The flight zone limits essentially relate to the probability of distraction,\u00a0glare and\u00a0flash blindness in low ambient light conditions. Here, glare is an impairment of vision which stops when the illumination ceases, and flash blindness includes an after-image which impedes vision after the\u00a0illumination ceases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Distances <\/strong><\/td>\n Description <\/strong><\/td>\n\n

limit
t >= 0.25 s <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

limit
t < 0.25 s <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Normal Zone Exposure Distance (NZED)<\/td>\nAt distances greater than the NZED the effective irradiance\u00a0is dim enough not to present an ocular hazard but may cause flash blindness.<\/td>\n\n

Maximum Permissible Exposure
(MPE)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Maximum Permissible Exposure
(MPE)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Sensitive Zone Exposure Distance (SZED)<\/td>\nAt distances greater than the SZED the\u00a0effective irradiance is dim enough not to cause flash blindness but\u00a0may cause glare.<\/td>\n\n

100 \u00b5W\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

25 \u03bcJ\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Critical Zone Exposure Distance (CZED)<\/td>\nAt distances greater than the CZED the\u00a0effective irradiance is dim enough not to cause glare but may cause\u00a0a distraction.<\/td>\n\n

5 \u03bcW\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.25 \u03bcJ\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Laser-Free Exposure Distance
(LFED)<\/td>\n		At distances greater than the LFED the\u00a0effective irradiance is dim enough not to cause a distraction.<\/td>\n\n

50 nW\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

12.5 nJ\/cm2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Our LaserBee\u00a0laser safety software package,\u00a0includes a general flight zones tool which can be used to assess laser distraction hazards.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • request a demonstration copy of LaserBee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Laser Distraction Hazards In many cases the hazard from laser pointers is not that they may damage\u00a0your eyes but that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":155,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"slim_seo":{"title":"Laser Distraction Hazards - Lucid Optical Services Ltd","description":"Laser Distraction Hazards In many cases the hazard from laser pointers is not that they may damage\u00a0your eyes but that they might be bright enough to dazzle or d"},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-328","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"annette@lucidos.co.uk","author_link":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/author\/annettelucidos-co-uk\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Laser Distraction Hazards In many cases the hazard from laser pointers is not that they may damage\u00a0your eyes but that […]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1980,"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/328\/revisions\/1980"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lucidos.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}