[wnkrshm]

I work with lasers and we get a yearly security training on staying safe with lasers (the whole shebang, videos of cow-eyes exploding from diffuse scattering of a cutting laser, cutting pizza, photos of scars of accidents, post-trauma photos of retinas etc).

It is indeed terrifying to see how easily you can get tools that can cripple people without people being aware of the danger.

[avian]

I've spent some time in a lab with an optical table and what was probably a 10 mW helium-neon laser. Doors locked when the laser was on, warning signs, protective eyewear and strict procedures during experiments. And then you go out and see drunk people at parties with lasers from eBay of unknown power pointing them at random people. The lab experience made me really paranoid about anything that involves lasers and I completely understand the author of this article.

[wnkrshm]

Exactly. I've even seen 'party laser' products at dollar stores with moving diffraction gratings that project patterns on the walls, marketed like a kid's toy (and I think with a Class 2).

Even worse, the EU norm for lasers has been amended for incoherent sources. Previously, LEDs had to fulfill certain maximal radiance requirements to not need a laser sticker. They raised the radiance limit for LEDs by a factor of 100 (so if it was coherent it's about a Class 3 now). I treat bright LEDs/flashlights like lasers now at close distance.

Edit: (someone could classify a Class 4 diode laser array for heat treatment as an LED array now (given shitty M2) and avoid the laser norms altogether, despite the thing still being dangerous)