UK Laser Meet - Safety Issues???

[soforene]

as ive said to rob ill be his bitch for the frst 20mins or so ...

You won't need an ID card if you come fully kitted out in the GIMP suit.

[andy_con]

gimp suit, or birthday suit?

[Lasermad]

Andy

Matey , i REALLY appreciate the offer of some transport from stanstead etc , but if you plan to turn up to collect m ina gimp suit or your birthday suit ( perish the thought ! ) , do me a favour and just leave me stranded

PAUL

[andy_con]

LOL

ok ill wear some clothes!!

[stanwax]

Andy

Matey , i REALLY appreciate the offer of some transport from stanstead etc , but if you plan to turn up to collect m ina gimp suit or your birthday suit ( perish the thought ! ) , do me a favour and just leave me stranded

PAUL

Come on Paul
wheres your sense of adventure - anyway I thought you would be wearing your gimp suit in readiness to be my whitelight bitch!

Rob

[Lasermad]

Might be a good time to ressurruct this thread a plenty time to ORGANISE and safety issues .....


SO while its fresh in everyones heads ..........

1) Did you see anything unsafe at UKLEM2

2) Where you unhappy ?Did you query the issue ?

3) what would you like to see at UKLEM 3 , to improve safety

Hopefully this will be an open and frank discussion to allow UKLEM to move forward .......

Monday morning i was at a road safety meeting , some sobering facts ..including that NINE people die every day on Uk roads .... none of them are deliberate ...they are all accidents ... the most sobering fact is that they reckon almost all of these "accidents " are preventable ..in other owrds they are not accidents they are caused by many reasons all of which are preventable .

Long term UKLEM has to move forward in this way especially if it gets busier or close its doors to a select collection of people who know and accept the risks .........

Personally i reckon the doors should be closed to those who accept the risks involved as i think that will be the only way for the Uklems to freely do what we need to do . Alternatively the numbers be limited or a bigger more safety suitable venue be found .

DISCUSS !


PAUL

[andy_con]

i cant remember who i spoke about this with at the meet, but i think a good idea would be to line all the lasers up next to each other pointing towards the stage.

then there is a laser free zone behind and a laser zone if people want to take pics etc in front

[Tomcat]

it seemed quite safe laser->eye to me a few beams on my face but i could tell where they were going and so i didnt get one hit it the eye at all

and we all know what we are doing its not like avarage joe is going to be there walking through the beams and getting blinded

[Jem]

i cant remember who i spoke about this with at the meet, but i think a good idea would be to line all the lasers up next to each other pointing towards the stage.

then there is a laser free zone behind and a laser zone if people want to take pics etc in front

I believe that was me Andy. I just thought that it would be a good idea for all projectors that couldn't quite meet the official safety guidelines to be all set up pointing at the stage. That way those that didn't want to wander into the 'danger zone' didn't have to. AT the same time, those whose projectors DID meet all safety standards and could be set 3 meters above the floor could point them into the room, provided that the beams were kept well above everyone's heads.

I think it it quite clear by now where I stand on safety issues, and I make no apologies for this. If UKLEM is to progress we HAVE to consider safety and everyone has to accept a certain amount of responsibility in ensuring their kit (and their behaviour) is safe. If we can ensure safety we may start to attract more of the big names in the laser business. I'm sure there are people out there who may like to attend but would be worried for their professional standing should they ultimately be seen in photographs with lasers in their faces.

Having said all that, I certainly don't want to be a spoilsport. I had a fantastic time on Sunday and wouldn't have missed it for the world

One other thing... For anyone remotely interested in safety there are excellent short courses available, one of these is run by LaserVisuals (next one is on 18th Feb). These courses cram loads of information into a days course. They will almost certainly change your mind on certain aspects relating to laser safety and make you think twice when casually setting up your projector at places such as Sunday's meeting. It's surprising how little laser radiation you need to be exposed to in order to exceed the recommended MPE's.

Just for info, I work in Ophthalmic Optics and therefore recognise the value of eyesight. It's one of those things that we all take for granted but would be devastated if we lost even part of our vision. Think about that next time a beam comes heading towards your face - How can you be sure it's below the MPE level ? There were some pretty powerful lasers there on Sunday perhaps we just ought to err on the side of caution. This is not going to spoil anyone's fun, it just means we have to be a little more organised in future.

Cheers

Jem

[Lasermad]

Just had an IDEA to help overcome Safety Issues ........ employing someone involves cash ..means an entry fee - YUK

Asking someone who is a proffesional to do it for free - there putting their integrity on the line ? - YUK

Starting a UKLEM Safety Commitee .....now theres an idea worth considering ?

Jem with your experience as a laserist , and you having formalised your safety credentials having been on the Laser Visuals Course ......i propose YOU as head of the safety commitee :-) ..... nothing like putting you on the spot eh !

Anybody want to second that a few times ?

PAUL