LSO Workshop: DOE Accidents, Near Misses, Lessons Learned since 2024

The Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Facility Contractors Group-Laser Safety Community of Practice, has been tracking laser incidents and lessons learned across the complex since 2000. These are reported at DOE Laser Safety Officer Workshops held every two years. Since the last workshop was held in 2024, there have been twenty-eight incidents/lessons learned. None have resulted in an injury. This presentation will provide an overview of these items.

Jamie King is a Certified Laser Safety Officer with over 30 years of experience practicing laser safety. He has served as LSO for NASA-Ames Research Center, Sandia National Labs (California), and is currently the Laser/NIR Safety Program Lead for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Jamie is a member of the Laser Institute-LIA Board of Trustees. He represents LLNL on the Z136 Standards Committee, chairs SSC-8, and serves on the ADCOM, SSC-1, and TSC-4 subcommittees. He has authored numerous papers and articles including the DOE Laser Lessons Newsletter with worldwide distribution. He served as General Chair for the 2023 and 2025 International Laser Safety Conferences and as Director for the last six DOE Laser Safety Officer Workshops. Jamie was the 2019 recipient of the R. James Rockwell, Jr. Educational Achievement Award for his contributions in laser safety and was selected as an LIA Fellow in 2023.