Quote:
Originally Posted by AstralTraveller
It seems to me that part of our problem is that the Class IIIb category covers a pretty broad range (two orders of magnitude - 0.005 to 0.5W) and we are near the bottom of the range. I don't think a 5mW laser is bright enough for our purposes but 10mW is probably OK and 30mW is plenty. (I'd be quite happy to hear other opinions about that.) So perhaps what we need is the lower limit of Class IIIb to be raised.
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David, It's never going to happen.
The problem is that various standards bodies have decided that class 1 and 2 can be operated without training, class 3R requires some minimal awareness/training, but anything above that is not safe without proper training and supervision. Rightly or wrongly the government is following the Australian standard when determining what is "safe" for use by the general public.
Don't get me wrong, from what I've heard, the new laws do seem a bit over the top. My wife who used to do martial arts only has "controlled" weapons in the house. I was teasing her just tonight that her pacifist, astronomer husband now has a "prohibited" weapon. But I'll wait for the details before I pass judgement.
Cheers.