Laser Safety
Texas Christian University (“TCU”) has established a Laser Safety Committee (LSC) to help provide controls and safety guidance for research and educational activities involving lasers. The committee is composed of representatives from TCU faculty and staff that serve as a resource for development and review of laser safety policies and procedures, and, in conjunction with the Laser Safety Officer, addresses laser safety problems, and reviews and recommends use of lasers based upon the American National Standard for Safe Use of Lasers, where applicable.
The LSC is responsible for the following duties:
- Assist in fostering a university-wide culture accountability and compliance
- Research Integrity. Confidentially consult with the Research Integrity Officer on assessments, inquiries, and investigations of research integrity violation allegations.
- Policies
- Help to establish and maintain adequate policies and practices for the evaluation and control of laser hazards within TCU
- Make recommendations to the LSO for appropriate laser safety training programs and materials and standard operating procedures
- Maintain an awareness of all applicable new or revised laser safety standards.
- Facilitate compliance within their respective Departments with laser safety standards
- Assist in investigating alleged infractions of safety rules or improper use of laser equipment brought to its attention by the LSO or other responsible personnel, and recommend remedial action to correct such infractions
- Monitor procurement, use, and disposal procedures
For more information about laser safety at TCU contact the TCU Laser Safety Officer, Dr. Anton Naumov at (817) 257-1724 or a.naumov@tcu.edu. General questions may be sent to research@tcu.edu.
Laser Training
All PIs that are laser users for teaching or research purposes and their students are required to complete Laser safety training via Skills. All PIs and students who will be involved with laser experiments must contact Rich Adickes (R.ADICKES@tcu.edu) with you name, email, and TCU ID# to be assigned the required training. Training documents will be checked as part of the Laser Safety Committee’s annual inspections. The request for training is required and should be requested at the start of the fall semester for all new laser users (faculty or students). The on a rolling basis as needed.
Lasers not currently in use
If after annual inspections have been completed and there are lasers not currently in use and you want to initiate a new experiment using the previously unused laser, the PI must inform the Laser Safety Committee at least 30 days before the laser experiment starts to allow for inspection of the new experiment configuration. PI should reach out to the Laser Safety Committee Chair Dr. Anton Naumov and Weldon George (Office of Research Compliance).
