Jan. 21, 2025
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Spotlighting a Legend of Laser Safety

By Elliot Jaffe

When Jamie King first began working as a radiation safety technician, laser safety had yet to truly emerge as a specialized field. Instead, it lay at the intersection of responsibilities covered by health physics, industrial hygiene, and other safety roles.

By no coincidence, the growth and recognition of King’s own career has mirrored the establishment of laser safety practices as vital for protecting a workforce pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge in the interest of national security.

King says he has been fortunate to work for institutions that saw the necessity of employing full-time laser safety specialists early on. During his first laser safety officer (LSO) role, at NASA Ames Research Center, King was one of just three employees in the health physics group.

In the 1990’s, cutting-edge laboratories around the Bay Area, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, Berkeley, were making efforts to more clearly define and establish the roles of those working in laser safety.

Laser specialists from these institutions soon formed the Bay Area Laser Safety Officers group with the intent of building out relevant work standards and drafting certification programs. As a member of this burgeoning group, King saw opportunities for his efforts to make a noticeable difference in the field.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he reflects.

King went on to apply his expertise at Sandia National Laboratories for six years before joining Lawrence Livermore in 2006 as construction of the National Ignition Facility was well underway. First serving as the LSO for the NIF & Photon Science (NIF&PS) directorate, he became LLNL’s chief LSO in 2011 and led the formation of LLNL’s Laser and Nonionizing Radiation (NIR) Safety Program in 2020.

Despite laser safety still being a relatively niche focus today, according to King, the job is “never boring.” As chief LSO and NIR program leader, King advises Livermore’s research teams on how to safely interact with laser systems and other NIR sources that generate electromagnetic radiation from the deep ultraviolet out into the radio frequency band.

Such systems run the gamut of power and function, from small-scale lasers used in commercial desktop cutters and engravers, to larger lasers used in research and development laboratories, to the football-field-sized laser bays at NIF.

“The specific safety measures implemented come down to the needs of the program. My philosophy is to give users the protections they need, but to not overprescribe measures to the point of inhibiting work,” he explains. “We aim to develop relationships with laser system users so that reaching out to our office becomes second nature. If there’s a laser, we get contacted.”

Building rapport with clients allows King and his team of LSOs to quickly and thoroughly assess and implement the specific safety requirements for each user group and facility. However small the research team or the laser-containing instruments they plan to use, there are requisite measures to preventing harm to workers.

King and his team advise on a range of safety precautions to install for a given setup. Precautions could be administrative, such as controlling user access and posting clear signage alerting personnel to the presence of potentially damaging energies and trip hazards.

At the individual level, personnel are trained on environmental hazards and are instructed to wear appropriate personal protective equipment within calculated ranges of radiation-emitting instruments.

More directly, laboratories can install engineering controls that physically eliminate hazards or contain them as much as possible. LSOs are highly knowledgeable of possible interventions and able to prescribe the right fit for different laser classes, room layouts, and unique research needs.

The need for laser safety is particularly acute at LLNL.

“Per square foot, Lawrence Livermore probably has more lasers than anywhere else in the world,” King says.

That fact is usually an asset, though sometimes, it can present challenges. King points to LIGHT—Livermore’s highest-energy, commercially-produced laser system which is used by the Materials Science Division to study material shock effects.

As the system was being built, King and colleagues wrestled with how fitting this system into a room with a small footprint might complicate laser safety measures. King credits one of his LSOs, Hayden Johnson, for being instrumental in implementing safety considerations, such as providing sufficient buffer room between the laser setup and workers, that met regulations and passed auditing processes.

King is confident that a strong day-to-day relationship keeps members of all teams well informed and able to adapt to necessary changes, especially when building or altering laser systems.

The Laser Induced compression for Grain scale with High Throughput (LIGHT) laboratory
The Laser Induced compression for Grain scale with High Throughput (LIGHT) laboratory enables cost-effective investigations of laser-shocked materials.

Revered throughout the research and occupational safety communities, King is adamant about sharing his expertise and lessons learned over the years with newer members of the LSO discipline. Since the early days of exchanging business cards, attending talks, and publishing the NIF&PS laser safety newsletter, he saw larger and larger opportunities including presenting papers, chairing conferences, and running workshops.

“I never had a mentor in this specialty,” he says. “Almost everywhere I’ve been, I had to develop or redevelop the laser safety program. In those situations, it can feel like you’re just spinning your wheels. But I knew I wanted to make this position big when I started at LLNL. I stepped into a void whenever I saw one, and I said ‘yes’ enough to rise to a leadership position.”

In 2019, King was recognized with the R. James Rockwell, Jr. Educational Achievement Award. Arguably the discipline’s most prestigious award (King is only the eighth recipient since 2005), it highlights professionals who have played a central role in laser safety education and training efforts. King’s experiences at Livermore certainly fit the bill.

“Now that I have an office of hand-picked staff, I push them to present at conferences, join committees, and establish relationships in this growing community. I also try to provide speaking opportunities for other Environment, Safety & Health staff. At our last international conference, each of them was a bit nervous to present at first, but afterwards, they couldn’t wait for the next opportunity.”

Most recently, King was named a 2024 Fellow of the Laser Institute-LIA, the organization’s highest level of membership.

The team representing LLNL at the 2023 ILSC
King (right) attended the 2023 International Laser Safety Conference, bringing a cohort from Livermore’s Environment, Safety & Health organization, including (from left) Hayden Johnson, Anni Mai, Sandeep Bansal, Alexander Yang, and Anthony Novello.

More Information:

LLNL Laser Safety Officer Jamie King Named Laser Institute Fellow,” NIF & Photon Science News, January 11, 2024

“Laser Safety Book Draws from LLNL, NIF Expertise,” NIF & Photon Science News, April 21, 2021

“NIF’s Jamie King Elected to Laser Institute Board,” NIF & Photon Science News, February 26, 2020

Keeping an Eye on Laser Safety,” NIF & Photon Science News, January 13, 2016

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