1、 What is the standard
EN 60825-1 (corresponding to IEC 60825-1) is the fundamental standard for laser product safety, applicable to lasers and laser products with wavelengths ranging from 180 nm to 1 mm. Its core objectives are three things: classifying products according to the hazards of light radiation, specifying the protective measures that manufacturers must take, and informing users of risks through labels and instructions. This standard only covers the hazards of laser radiation itself, and other hazards such as electrical, chemical, noise, dust, high and low temperatures are not within the scope of this section and need to be addressed in conjunction with other standards.
2、 Relationship with laser cleaning machine
Laser cleaning machines commonly use pulsed fiber lasers with a wavelength of about 1064 nm and a power ranging from tens of watts to over kilowatts. The cleaning objects are highly reflective surfaces such as metals, and the reflected light is harmful. Therefore, most open cleaning machines belong to Class 4 (the highest hazard level); Only when the fully enclosed interlocking cleaning cabin can emit below the Class 1 AEL limit during normal closed operation, can the entire machine be classified as Class 1, but the cabin is still managed as Class 4. Attention: The classification is for the whole machine's accessible emission, not the laser nameplate. The report of the laser module cannot be used as a substitute for the whole machine evaluation.
3、 Seven classification levels
The standard classifies laser products into seven levels: Class 1, 1M, 2, 2M, 3R, 3B, and 4, with hazards ranging from low to high. Class 1 is absolutely safe under reasonable and foreseeable conditions of use; Class 4 refers to the ability to emit beyond the 3B limit, which may cause skin and eye damage and trigger fires, and is a typical destination for industrial high-power equipment. Closed equipment with interlocking is commonly designed with a dual level of "normal operation Class 1, maintenance/door opening Class 4".
4、 Main technical requirements
For Class 4 products, the standard specifies a series of engineering protection requirements, including protective enclosures, maintenance panels and safety interlocks, remote interlock connectors, manual reset, key control, exit warning lights, beam cutoff/attenuator, scanning protection, personnel entry protection, environmental conditions, and other accompanying hazard clauses. If the product does not exceed the AEL of Class 1 under all conditions, including fault conditions, most of the engineering requirements in Articles 6-9 can be exempted - this is the design goal of a fully enclosed cleaning chamber.
5、 Labels and Instructions
The label requirements are differentiated by level: Class 4 requires a warning triangle, category identification, and aperture warning. 1064 nm is invisible light and must be clearly labeled as "invisible laser radiation, do not look directly at the light outlet or reflected light". The instruction manual should provide hazard distance, control zone division, key management system, goggles selection (by wavelength and optical density OD), reflection risk warning, bypass interlocking conditions for trained personnel only, and downgrade or physical blocking measures during maintenance.
6、 Standard Evolution and Supporting Standards
EN 60825-1:2014/A11:2021 is a common version in the current EU market; There are additional requirements for EN 50689 for consumer laser products, and industrial cleaning machines generally do not belong to the consumer category. In actual CE certification, 60825-1 is usually used in conjunction with EN ISO 11553-1 (laser processing machines), EN 60204-1 (electrical safety), EN ISO 12100 (risk assessment), and the EMC directive; The EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC for newly launched products from January 20, 2027.
7、 One sentence summary
For laser cleaning machines, the essence of EN 60825-1 is to first test the reachable emission rating of the entire machine under the worst operating conditions, with Class 4 being the normal state. Then, the risk is locked by interlocking the shell, key control, scanning interlocking, light off verification, and warning labels, and the user is informed of where to touch and where not to touch through documents.
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