Visitors to the ion laser work room are allowed at the sole discretion of whomever has his hands inside the laser(s) being worked on at the time.
*IF* you can be safe (that is, follow simple directions), and *IF* the operator is OK with it, then yes, you may enter. Please ask first, especially if the door is shut and/or you see a blinking light on the door.
Also, please understand that there will be EXPOSED 3 phase wiring, along with running water and potential high-voltage DC power sources in there. These are LETHAL voltages. The optical hazard in that room is just one of the many things to watch out for.
As for goggles, if you have them, bring them. I would suggest a minimum of OD4 for blue and green wavelengths when they are working on argons, but more is obviously better. Personally, I have a mondo-set of argon goggles that are OD11 for green and OD14 for blue, but that's just me. (In some cases you can be in the room without goggles, but again, it's at the discretion of the guy running the laser at the time.) We want to keep everyone safe, after all.
With all that being said, when we are firing some of the lower power gear, I'm sure you'll get a chance to come in and see what's going on and ask questions. In past years the ion laser work room was a popular place for new people to pop in to see what an argon laser really looks like up close. (Sam's Laser FAQ just doesn't do it justice!)
But if Steve decides to fire up a Laserscope, or god-forbid he ends up trying to re-align the IR cavity in one, then understandably access to the room will need to be severely restricted. IR laser light is exceptionally dangerous because your eye has no response to IR, so you won't blink or have any sort of aversion response. It will just hit your eye and cook it like an egg, only really fast. Also, at the power levels that a laserscope is capable of producing, the beam itself is also extremely hazardous to your skin. (Severely burns you before you can move out of the way.)
Adam