Laser Program Management

Laser Safety Officer

The Laser Safety Officer (LSO) is responsible for managing the Dartmouth College Laser Safety Program under the direction of the Radiation/Laser Safety Committee. Responsibilities include:

1. Conducting periodic inspections of laser laboratories
2. Conducting an annual review of the Laser Safety Program
3. Providing and monitoring laser training
4. Reviewing and authorizing research involving the use of lasers
5. Managing the Dartmouth College Laser Inventory
6. Providing guidance for laser acquisition, transfer, and disposal
7. Ensuring that laser use is in compliance with the Laser Safety Program

Radiation/Laser Safety Committee

The Radiation/Laser Safety Committee (RSC) is responsible for:

1. Establishing, revising, and maintaining internal policies and procedures to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations.
2. Evaluating annual reviews of the Dartmouth College Laser Safety Program conducted by the LSO.
3. Reviewing and authorizing research involving the use of radiation and lasers.

Institutional Review Board

Research involving laser use in clinical trials or on human subjects must be reviewed and approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) which serves as the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Dartmouth College. In order to gain approval, the Principal Investigator to submit the research proposal to the IRB for review and thoroughly demonstrate that the proposed research "does not pose a significant risk to the subject or the laser operator". If the IRB rules that these conditions have not been met, the research may not proceed as proposed without an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) obtained from the FDA - Centers for Devices and Radiological Health.

Principal Investigator

The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for overseeing all laser use within their laboratories. This includes monitoring laser use, providing equipment-specific training to laser operators or appointing a Laser Training Manager (LTM) to do so, and ensuring that operating and emergency protocols are reviewed and revised on a regular basis.

Laser Training Manager

The Laser Training Manager (LTM), when appointed by the PI, is responsible for providing equipment-specific training to laser operators.

Laser Operator

Laser operators are responsible for ensuring that their annual Laser Safety Training is up to date and are responsible for scheduling equipment-specific laser training with the PI or LTM for a given device.