1. Select proper eyewear in accordance with laboratory specific procedures.
2. Check eyewear condition before each use.
3. Ensure all personnel are wearing appropriate eyewear as required.
4. Be knowledgeable of all safety controls and equipment safety features.
5. Remove or cover jewelry, watches, and other reflective objects.
6. Alert others prior to turning on laser, opening shutters, and/or creating new beam paths.
7. Exclude unnecessary personnel during alignments.
8. Have good diagnostics available for indirect viewing of the laser beam such as fluorescent cards, CCD cameras, or infrared viewers.
9. Keep primary and stray beams in horizontal plane below or above eye level when possible.
10. Never bring eyes near plane(s) in which the laser propagates.
11. Check for and block stray beams: when placing a new optical component in the beam, locate and block all stray reflections before proceeding to next step.
12. Use beam blocks: block the beam upstream until the beam is needed; place a block downbeam of optic path being aligned.
13. Use special caution when using periscopes, beam-splitting polarizers, and other optics that may generate out-of-plane beams. Secure beam blocks to contain possible stray beams.
14. Use Class 1 enclosures to eliminate laser hazards when possible.
15. Use barriers, beam tubes, and table enclosures or side shields when possible.
16. Use irises to aid in alignment.
17. Use minimum intensity needed, and use low-power alignment lasers when possible.
18. Secure all optics to table.
19. Practice good housekeeping.
20. Include control of hazardous energy practices in lab standard operating procedures, e.g. lockout-tagout for electrical and zero energy verification for laser.