Laser vs. Laser Product:

Laser and Laser Product are NOT the same thing. A laser is the physical components which make up the laser itself while a laser product is a product that contains a laser in it. To put it simply, a laser product is any device or object which uses a laser. This concept can be easily understood by taking a laser printer as an example: while the entirety of the printer is not a laser, it is a laser product.

This difference is important since it affects how these products are regulated. When receiving laser safety classifications, the government regulatory agencies assess the end laser product and not the laser. For this reason, depending on the use case, it is possible for a device to use a higher class laser in a lower class laser product because the laser’s beams are fully confined within a suitable enclosure.

However, it is important to re-emphasize that it is the final product which is subject to government regulations as can be seen in the quote from the IEC 60825-1 guidelines “laser products which are sold to other manufacturers for use as components of any system for subsequent sale are not subject to [this regulation], since the final product will itself be subject to this standard.” Despite this, IADIY provides its numerous years of experience to assist and guide customers when dealing with government safety regulations.