Administrative and engineering controls for high power lasers in lab, ground, sea and air

Northrop Grumman Aerospace System has been developing High Power Lasers for the past 30 years. Area of concern with these high power lasers has always been laser safety. In recent years, NGAS has been successful in developing the megawatt chemical laser such as the Airborne Laser, and kilowatt class solid state laser such as the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser. We have not experienced any significant personnel injury, which we attribute to the lessons learned and the implementation of these safety lessons in these various projects. These various high power lasers that NGAS are developing involve the emission of laser beams into the air, land, water, and the laboratory. This paper will describe the various administrative and engineering measures we have implemented which allow us to operate the lasers safely in these various environments.Northrop Grumman Aerospace System has been developing High Power Lasers for the past 30 years. Area of concern with these high power lasers has always been laser safety. In recent years, NGAS has been successful in developing the megawatt chemical laser such as the Airborne Laser, and kilowatt class solid state laser such as the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser. We have not experienced any significant personnel injury, which we attribute to the lessons learned and the implementation of these safety lessons in these various projects. These various high power lasers that NGAS are developing involve the emission of laser beams into the air, land, water, and the laboratory. This paper will describe the various administrative and engineering measures we have implemented which allow us to operate the lasers safely in these various environments.