Laser safety videos

Hi LPF, long time lurker (2+ years now!), first time post.

I want to create a short-and-sweet video about laser safety for YouTube. The target audience comprises teachers, new hobbyists, and basically anyone with a sense of responsibility but without a technical background.

I'm finally delurking because I want to ask everyone for ideas. Pretty much everything I know about lasers, I learned from this forum. So, please give me your feedback. I already have a list of ideas, but I'd like to hear yours first.

I want the video to be as succinct as possible because people lose interest very quickly these days.

Do you have experience making training videos? It's substantially harder to get your message across if you have trouble with talking in a manner that non-technical would understand completely.

Make sure to double and triple check your facts before uploading it to youtube, you don't want to be flamed if you get something minor (or major) wrong.

This sounds like a good idea though. Good luck with it.

Lase

Hi Lase, thanks for your response. My intention isn't to make a video worthy of sponsorship by a governmental agency or anything. I just want to take basic information that you'd put on a brochure (something like this) and transfer it into video format.

That said, I have no experience in making training videos but I'm decent at getting technical information across to people with little-to-no background in the matter. I'll definitely double and triple-check my facts before I finalize any videos; that's why I asked for advice here!

How appropriate is comparing laser safety to basic firearm safety? Things like never pointing it at another person, making sure it's "unloaded" (batteries taken out) so kids and clueless adults don't misuse it, having proper safety gear, etc.?

I also intend to talk about other tidbits that may be less obvious, such as not pointing it at stop signs and other retroreflectors.

Gilvus said:

How appropriate is comparing laser safety to basic firearm safety? Things like never pointing it at another person, making sure it's "unloaded" (batteries taken out) so kids and clueless adults don't misuse it, having proper safety gear, etc.?

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For people who don't want to learn anything about safety but do want to hold a laser, I generally compare a 1W+ to a .22 because it's the fastest way to bring home the seriousness of handling one.

In reality there are some crucial difference though.

I guess the answer to your question depends on just how much you want to dumb down the message.

InfinitusEquitas said:

For people who don't want to learn anything about safety but do want to hold a laser, I generally compare a 1W+ to a .22 because it's the fastest way to bring home the seriousness of handling one.

In reality there are some crucial difference though.

I guess the answer to your question depends on just how much you want to dumb down the message.

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I think anyone who's serious about lasers would go through the effort to read stuff in-depth and buy safety gear. A short video is mostly pressing home the big points, hopefully well enough so that it sticks after one viewing.

So yeah, very watered-down. Here's what I have so far:

• 
  Lasers are fun, but they're not toys. Like nice cars, guns, and sex, they're very fun but they can do serious harm if misused.

• 
  "Unload" your lasers (take out the batteries) if you have kids or hapless adults, like coworkers, around.

• 
  Be careful of what you buy. A laser rated higher than 50mW can cause eye damage even with a quick flash across the eyes.

• 
  Shining a laser into occupied vehicles, like cars, helicopters, and airplanes is a felony. Dozens of people have been arrested, jailed, and fined for this type of mayhem (see link in video description)

• 
  Watch out for certain items, like stop signs, reflective strips on bikes and road markers, and reflective strips on backpacks and certain clothing. They are retroreflectors, and are designed to reflect light directly back where they came from.

Anyone else have ideas? I need all that I can get :thanks:

Gilvus said:

I think anyone who's serious about lasers would go through the effort to read stuff in-depth and buy safety gear. A short video is mostly pressing home the big points, hopefully well enough so that it sticks after one viewing.

So yeah, very watered-down. Here's what I have so far:

• Lasers are fun, but they're not toys. Like nice cars, guns, and sex, they're very fun but they can do serious harm if misused.

• "Unload" your lasers (take out the batteries) if you have kids or hapless adults, like coworkers, around.

• Be careful of what you buy. A laser rated higher than 50mW can cause eye damage even with a quick flash across the eyes.

• Shining a laser into occupied vehicles, like cars, helicopters, and airplanes is a felony. Dozens of people have been arrested, jailed, and fined for this type of mayhem (see link in video description)

• Watch out for certain items, like stop signs, reflective strips on bikes and road markers, and reflective strips on backpacks and certain clothing. They are retroreflectors, and are designed to reflect light directly back where they came from.

Anyone else have ideas? I need all that I can get :thanks:

Click to expand...

You missed the crucial BUY SAFETY GOGGLES OF THE APPROPRIATE WAVELENGTH section. And 'do not shine your laser into any living creatures eyes' warning.

Lase

- Lasers are fun, but they're not toys. Like nice cars, guns, and sex, they're very fun but they can do serious harm if misused.
- Do not shine a laser of any power into the eye of any living thing, including your own eyes. Even if you can't see the laser dot, do NOT look into the laser itself - it may be emitting invisible radiation.
- "Unload" your lasers (take out the batteries) if you have kids or hapless adults, like coworkers, around.
- Be careful of what you buy. A laser rated higher than 5mW can cause eye damage even with a quick flash across the eyes.
...> If you MUST buy a laser higher than 5 mW, do your eyeballs a favor and buy safety glasses for the correct wavelength (that is, color).
- Shining a laser into occupied vehicles, like cars, helicopters, and airplanes is a felony. Dozens of people have been arrested, fined, and jailed for this type of mayhem (see link in video description)
- Watch out for certain items, like stop signs, reflective strips on bikes and road markers, and reflective strips on backpacks and certain clothing. They are retroreflectors, and are designed to reflect light directly back where they came from.

Thanks. Btw, I lowered the minimum damage thing to 5mW. Don't need anyone thinking 45mW is okay to stare at.

Gilvus said:

Thanks. Btw, I lowered the minimum damage thing to 5mW. Don't need anyone thinking 45mW is okay to stare at.

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Even 5mW is safe only because of the blink reflex...

InfinitusEquitas said:

Even 5mW is safe only because of the blink reflex...

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Does Average Joe need to know that? I guess it couldn't hurt to put it in.

Anyone who purposefully stares into a laser of any power just to see how much damage can be done deserves a Darwin Award, no?

Gilvus said:

Anyone who purposefully stares into a laser of any power just to see how much damage can be done deserves a Darwin Award, no?

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To be honest I don't think nearly enough of those are awarded, but I guess that's what happens when natural selection is mostly taken out of the equation:thinking:

I do think you need to mention that 5mW is only safe because of the blink reflex, no need to go into details, but you don't want people to end up thinking that 5mW is perfectly safe to stare into.

InfinitusEquitas said:

I do think you need to mention that 5mW is only safe because of the blink reflex, no need to go into details, but you don't want people to end up thinking that 5mW is perfectly safe to stare into.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a good point. Thanks.

madmacmo said:

FYI - a previous post of mine with somewhat similiar intent for a proactive public awareness initiative:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469-2.html

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I followed that thread. Scary retinal bleeding...

Why don't you create a new thread and ask the mods to sticky it? A "Here are the ground rules for laser use" list. If you update it from time to time, I can draw material from it.