IEC 60825-12:2022

IEC 60825-12
®

Edition 3.0 2022-12
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside


Safety of laser products –
Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for
transmission of information

Sécurité des appareils à laser –
Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communication optique en espace libre
utilisés pour la transmission d’informations

IEC 60825-12:2022-12(en-fr)

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IEC 60825-12

®


Edition 3.0 2022-12




INTERNATIONAL



STANDARD




NORME


INTERNATIONALE
colour

inside










Safety of laser products –

Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems used for

transmission of information



Sécurité des appareils à laser –

Partie 12: Sécurité des systèmes de communication optique en espace libre


utilisés pour la transmission d’informations













INTERNATIONAL

ELECTROTECHNICAL

COMMISSION


COMMISSION

ELECTROTECHNIQUE


INTERNATIONALE




ICS 31.260 ISBN 978-2-8322-6195-8




Warning! Make sure that you obtained this publication from an authorized distributor.

Attention! Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez obtenu cette publication via un distributeur agréé.

® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale

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– 2 – IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Assessment of access level . 12
4.1 General . 12
4.2 Determination of access level and the use of Condition 2. 13
4.3 Access level 1 and 1M . 14
4.4 Access level 2 and 2M . 15
4.5 Access level 3R . 16
4.6 Access level 3B . 16
4.7 Access level 4 . 16
4.8 Time base . 17
5 Classification and evaluation of access level . 17
5.1 General . 17
5.2 Impact of using automatic power reduction features . 18
5.3 Automatic power reduction mechanisms (APR) . 18
5.3.1 General . 18
5.3.2 APR performance requirements . 18
5.4 Installation protection systems (IPS) . 19
6 Access level and classification requirements by location type . 19
6.1 General . 19
6.2 Requirements for unrestricted locations . 22
6.2.1 General . 22
6.2.2 Use of access level 1M and access level 2M FSOCS equipment in
unrestricted locations. 24
6.2.3 Use of access level 3R FSOCS equipment in unrestricted locations . 26
6.2.4 General . 26
6.2.5 Use of access level 3R FSOCS equipment in restricted locations . 27
6.3 Requirements for controlled locations . 28
6.3.1 General . 28
6.3.2 Use of access level 3B and access level 4 FSOCS equipment in
controlled locations . 29
6.4 Requirements for inaccessible space . 29
6.5 Specular reflections . 29
7 Organizational requirements . 30
7.1 Requirements for manufacturers of ready-to-use FSOCS transmitter or turn
key systems . 30
7.1.1 General . 30
7.1.2 Additional manufacturer's requirements . 31
7.2 Installation and service organization requirements . 32
7.3 Operating organization requirements . 33
8 Marking . 33
8.1 General . 33
8.2 Marking of aperture for transmitter . 35
8.3 Durability – Indelibility requirements for safety markings . 35

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IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022 – 3 –
8.4 Warning for invisible radiation . 35
Annex A (informative) Rationale . 36
Annex B (informative) Clarification of the meaning of "access level" . 37
B.1 General . 37
B.2 Class . 37
B.3 Access level . 37
Annex C (informative) Examples of applications and calculations. 38
C.1 Symbols used in the example of this annex . 38
C.2 Examples of NHZ and ENHZ . 38
C.2.1 General . 38
C.2.2 Example − Collimated beam access level 1M FSOCS . 38
C.2.3 Example − Diverging beam access level 1M FSOCS . 39
C.2.4 Example – Access level 3B FSOCS product . 39
C.3 Viewing a specular (mirror-like) reflection . 40
C.4 Example of divergent, diffuse IR transmitter . 41
C.5 FSOCS link between two restricted locations . 42
C.6 Unmanned (uncrewed) Aerial (aircraft) system (UAS) . 45
Annex D (informative) Methods of hazard/safety analysis . 48
Annex E (informative) Guidance for installing, servicing and operating organizations . 49
E.1 Working practices for FSOCSs . 49
E.1.1 General . 49
E.1.2 General working practices . 49
E.1.3 Additional working practices for Class/access level 1M, 2M, 3R, 3B and
4 systems . 50
E.2 Education and training . 50
Bibliography . 51

Figure 1 – Commercial structures . 20
Figure 2 – Residential areas . 21
Figure 3 – Examples of external location types . 23
Figure 4 – Access level 1M or 2M transmitter near edge of unrestricted rooftop . 25
Figure 5 – Access level 1M transmitter in unrestricted location . 25
Figure 6 – Access level 3R transmitter in restricted location . 28
Figure C.1 – Link between two widely separated locations . 42
Figure C.2 – Unmanned (uncrewed) Aerial (aircraft) System with FSOCS . 45
Figure C.3 – Grounded FSOCS installed to the ground . 46
Figure C.4 – Grounded FSOCS installed to the controlled location . 46

Table 1 – Measurement aperture diameters and distances for the default (simplified)
evaluation . 14
Table 2 – Restrictions for the use of FSOCS based on access levels . 22
Table 3 – Requirements for warning signs . 32
Table 4 – Marking requirements . 34
Table C.1 − Symbols used in the example of Annex C . 38
Table C.2 – Allowed access levels and installation requirements . 47

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– 4 – IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________

SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –

Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems
used for transmission of information

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of patent
rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
IEC 60825-12 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 76: Optical radiation safety and
laser equipment. It is an International Standard.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2019. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition.
a) Where relevant and appropriate, references to IEC 60825-1 have been changed to a specific
dated reference i.e. IEC 60825-1:2014.
b) Condition 2 has been changed from 7 mm aperture stop and 70 mm distance as follows,
– For wavelengths less than 1 400 nm, 3,5 mm aperture stop and 35 mm distance,
– For wavelengths equal to or greater than 1 400 nm, 3,5 mm aperture stop and 14 mm
distance.

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IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022 – 5 –
c) For wavelengths between 1 200 nm and 1 400 nm, an additional limitation is required equal
to the equivalent radiant power of the skin MPE. C has therefore been revised in
7
accordance with IEC 60825-1:2014, but with this additional limitation related to the skin
MPE; see 4.2.
d) Additional detail added regarding time base, see 4.8.
e) Additional clarification added to Clause 8 regarding the content and formatting of labels.
f) Annex A has been added, providing a rationale for the differences in approach between this
document and IEC 60825-1:2014.
g) Annex B has been added, providing clarification of the meaning of the term "access level".
h) Worked examples have been added for a variety of scenarios; see Clauses C.2 to C.5.
i) Clause C.6 has been added on UAS, unmanned aerial systems.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
76/717/FDIS 76/722/RVD

Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/standardsdev/publications.
The list of all parts of the IEC 60825 series, published under the title Safety of laser products,
can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.

IMPORTANT – The "colour inside" logo on the cover page of this document indicates that it
contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding of its
contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

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– 6 – IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022
INTRODUCTION
The objective of this document is to:
– protect people from hazardous optical radiation emitted by FSOCSs;
– provide safety requirements and guidance for the design, manufacture and use of laser
products or laser systems, which emit laser radiation for the purpose of free space optical
data transmission;
– provide guidance for installation, operation, maintenance and service to assure the safe
deployment and use of such laser systems.
This document only addresses the open beam portion of the laser product or laser system.
This document places the responsibility for certain product safety requirements, as well as
requirements for providing appropriate information on how to use these systems safely, on the
manufacturer of the system or the transmitters. It places the responsibility for the safe
deployment and use of these systems on the installer or the operating organization. It places
the responsibility for adherence to safety instructions during installation and service operations
on the installation and service organizations as appropriate, and during operation and
maintenance functions on the operating organization. It is recognized that the user of this
document may fall into one or more of the categories of manufacturer, installer, service
organization and/or operating organization as mentioned above.
Annex A gives a more detailed rationale for this document, and some examples are given in
Annex C.

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IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022 – 7 –
SAFETY OF LASER PRODUCTS –

Part 12: Safety of free space optical communication systems
used for transmission of information



1 Scope
This part of IEC 60825 is applicable to products that emit laser radiation for the purpose of free
space optical data transmission.
This document does not apply to laser products designed for the purposes of transmitting optical
power for applications such as material processing or medical treatment. This document also
does not apply to the use of laser products in explosive atmospheres (see IEC 60079-0). Light-
emitting diodes employed by free space optical communication systems, used for the purpose
of free space optical data transmission, do not fall into the scope of this document.
NOTE If the laser product incorporates an optical fibre that extends from the confinements by a system or enclosed
space, the requirements in IEC 60825-2 apply.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 60825-1:2014, Safety of laser products – Part 1: Equipment classification and requirements
IEC 60825-2, Safety of laser products – Part 2: Safety of optical fibre communication systems
(OFCSs)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 60825-1:2014 and
the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
access level
potential hazard at any accessible position as a result of the optical emissions from a free space
optical communication system (FSOCS) installation
Note 1 to entry: The access level is based on the level of laser radiation which could become accessible in
reasonably foreseeable circumstances, e.g. walking into an open beam path. It is closely related to the laser
classification procedure in IEC 60825-1. The meaning of access level is clarified in Annex B.
Note 2 to entry: Practically speaking, it takes two or more seconds to fully align an optical aid with a beam (which
might occur in an unrestricted location), and this delay is incorporated into the method for determining access level.

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– 8 – IEC 60825-12:2022 © IEC 2022
3.2
access level 1
assigned hazard at any accessible location within a FSOCS at which, under any reasonably
foreseeable event, human access to laser radiation (accessible emission), evaluated by the
measurement conditions for access level 1 as defined in Clause 4 of this document, will not
exceed the accessible emission limits of Class 1 for the applicable wavelengths and emission
duration, with additional constraints as defined in 4.3
Note 1 to entry: The "additional constraints" mentioned above refer to additional and stricter constraints that 4.3 of
this document places on the values specified in IEC 60825-1:2014 for the accessible emission limits of Class 1 in
the wavelength range 1 200 to 1 400 nm.
3.3
access level 1M
assigned hazard at any accessible location within a FSOCS at which, under any reasonably
foreseeable event, human access to laser radiation (accessible emission), evaluated by the
measurement conditions for access level 1M as defined in Clause 4 of this document, will not
exceed the accessible emission limits of Class 1 for the applicable wavelengths and emission,
with additional constraints as defined in 4.3
Note 1 to entry: The "additional constraints" mentioned above refer to additional and stricter constraints that 4.3 of
this document places on the values specified in IEC 60825-1:2014 for the accessible emission limits of Class 1 in
the wavelength range 1 200 to 1 400 nm.
3.4
access level 2
assigned hazard at any accessible location within a FSOCS at which, under any reasonably
foreseeable event, human access to laser radiation (accessible emission), evaluated by the
measurement conditions for access level 2 as defined in Clause 4 of this document, will not
exceed the accessible emission limits of Class 2 for the applicable wavelengths and emission
duration, with additional constraints as defined in 4.4
3.5
access level 2M
assigned hazard at any accessible location within a FSOCS at which, under any reasonably
foreseeable event, human access to laser radiation (accessible emission), evaluated by the
measurement conditions for access level 2M as defined in Clause 4 of this document, will not
exceed the accessible emission limits of Class 2 for the applicable wavelengths and emission
duration, with additional constraint as defined in 4.4
3.6
access level 3R
a
...