LLNL Hosts Laser Safety Officer Workshop

Laser safety officers and health and safety professionals gathered at LLNL recently for a Department of Energy (DOE) workshop to exchange insights, strengthen best practices, and discuss their evolving challenges and responsibilities.

The 2026 DOE Laser Safety Officer (LSO) Workshop, held May 19 to May 21, provided a valuable forum for collaboration, professional development, and shared commitment to laser safety across DOE operations.

“Near misses are the result of not paying attention to the details, and accidents are the result of not paying attention to the near misses,” LLNL’s Lead Laser Safety Officer Jamie King said during his opening remarks.

About 170 laser and health and safety professionals attended the workshop, the third hosted by LLNL since the inaugural event in 2005, but the first at the Lab since 2014. The workshop was developed out of a finding in a 2005 DOE Special Operations Report (SOR) on laser safety, which cited that best practices were not being shared and no mechanism existed to facilitate LSO networking.

The workshop is especially important now, as the use and applications of lasers continue to grow. At LLNL alone, there are more than 2,000 hazardous laser sources in use across 300 laser-controlled areas. Applications include everything from 3D printing, diagnostic instruments like spectroscopy and microscopy, to the world’s most energetic laser, the 192-beam National Ignition Facility (NIF).

“That’s a lot to manage, [there are] a lot of people using those lasers,” said Mark Sutton, associate director for the Environment, Safety, and Health Directorate. “Lasers are key to our national security mission here at the Lab,” he said.

One of the main themes of the workshop was, as Sutton put it, to “push the boundaries on laser safety” and ask, “how can we do better?”

Speakers and attendees exchanged information about best practices and lessons learned from various incidents at LLNL and other laser research facilities. King, who headed the workshop’s organizing committee, expressed the importance of staying vigilant because small lapses can quickly become serious hazards when people deviate from approved work orders, rely on temporary fixes, or assume administrative controls put in place will hold.

For example, King said, one potential hazard resulted when a researcher used a seemingly innocuous piece of tape to keep laser light from aiming down onto an optical table. Instead of following safety procedures and generating a hazard analysis, the tape inadvertently led to some of the laser light being reflected out of the beam path, creating an unintended exposure for the next group of experimenters.

“What you want to do is communicate any changes or potential issues with the beam path configuration,” King said. “When you see these in your optical path over at your facility, be aware and make sure you know where all the beams are going.”

Laser industry consultant Ken Barat, who was NIF’s laser safety officer from 2002 to 2006, talked about the importance of on-the-job training that adheres to an unbending culture of laser safety, and not just conducting one training session for new employees.

Barat recalled investigating a 2009 accident that involved a new employee who was hit in the eye while working with an ultra-fast femtosecond laser. Along with the usual blitz of orientation sessions for new hires, the employee had received only a 45-minute briefing on the laser before being permitted to work on his own. Adequate on-the-job training could have prevented this injury. Barat also reflected on the importance of choosing qualified personnel to provide training for new employees.

In another presentation, Ondřej Cibulka, who leads laser safety at ELI Beamlines in the Czech Republic, said the human element can add other challenges to laser safety officers. He noted how he’s seen laser workers wearing their safety glasses on top of their heads instead of protecting their eyes.

In one instance, two visitors to the European user facility, which operates some of the most powerful laser systems in the world, ignored warning signs and entered a prohibited area. During the investigation, the visitor stated that they saw the warning sign but ignored it because they thought it was obsolete.

The facility had to install another physical barrier to add another layer of protection for that area, Cibulka said.

Open two-way dialogue is essential for laser safety, especially in a university research setting, said Brian Anderssen, certified laser safety officer at the University of Minnesota.

 “When you're working with faculty, the art of diplomacy is critical,” Anderssen said. “You do not go into a lab and say, ‘I'm the new laser safety officer, this is how things are going to be run now.’ You need to open communication with your faculty and your researchers.”

While at the workshop, attendees had the chance to tour NIF, the world’s most energetic laser system, and speak to several vendors to learn about the latest in lasers and related safety equipment. The workshop also featured an after-hours social event held at the nearby Da Boccery entertainment venue in Livermore.

The workshop sponsors included Gentec-EO, Directed Light Inc., Lasermet Inc., Kentek Corp., NoIR InSight, Rockwell Laser Industries, Trumpf, the Photonics Gorup, Laservision, Edmund Optics, The Laser Institute, MKS, Univet Optical Technologies, and LaserSafety.net.

Additional highlights from this year’s conference included the keynote presentation given by Félicie Albert, director of the Jupiter Laser Facility at LLNL. Karla Armstrong from the Laser Safety Office presented on LLNL’s recently revamped laser alignment training program, and distributed copies of our Laser User Alignment and Reference Guide.

As laser capabilities expand at LLNL and throughout the national labs, the urgency of adhering to the principles of laser safety will rise accordingly. Establishing these robust protocols is essential to safeguarding the future workforce as they advance national security and energy missions. This workshop continues to serve as an invaluable platform to ensure LSO’s share in these best practices, answering the call of the 2005 SOR.

More Information:

“New Generation of Laser Safety Officers Convene for DOE Workshop,” NIF & Photon Science News, November 16, 2022

“LLNL Hosts DOE Laser Safety Officer Workshop,” NIF & Photon Science News, August 27, 2014

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