Avoiding the Risks of Noncompliance with the EU's New Laser Directives

With the new EU laser marking regulations coming into effect, businesses are facing a greater compliance challenge.This seminar will provide a thorough analysis of the EU's requirements for laser products, practical steps to help businesses avoid the risks of non-compliance, and a comprehensive explanation of the regulations, testing, and corrective measures to help you quickly adapt to the new regulations and ensure that your products can smoothly enter the EU market.

Why are the EU regulations so strict?

Recently, many of my friends who make laser products have been complaining that the new EU regulations have raised the bar for product labeling.Before, you could just stick a label on and be done with it, but now if you don't follow the rules, your goods will be detained by customs within minutes, and you'll even be fined.In fact, the main goal of this latest revision is to strengthen consumer safety, especially to prevent the harm of laser radiation.If we don't want to step on any landmines, we'd better first understand their "tricks of the trade.

The three key moves to avoid risk.

Step 1: Understand what has changed.

The biggest change in the regulations is the requirement that laser products be labeled with the radiation level, wavelength range, and safety warning symbol. In addition, the font size and position of the text are clearly specified.For example, in the past it was enough to simply mark a Class 2 laser, but now you have to add a symbol saying "Do not look directly into beam.I recommend directly downloading the EN 60825-1 standard from the EU website, and then carefully checking the latest annex, item by item. Never rely on "I think.

Step two: Have it tested by a reputable agency.

You can easily miss details when reading a file yourself, especially in the technical specifications.It is best to find a laboratory with EU certification to test the charger, as this will not only check that the labeling is in accordance with regulations, but also test the actual output power to see if it exceeds the standard.Last year we had a customer who had marked his product as Class 1, but the test results showed that it exceeded 0.5mW, and so it was rejected. It's cheaper to pay the several thousand NT dollars for the test than to pay a penalty for breach of contract.

Third, internal training must keep up.

Don't think that putting a label on the problem will solve it.All employees involved in quality control, packaging, and storage must know the new regulations.The most unfair case we've ever seen is when the product itself is compliant, but the old man who stuck the label on in the warehouse had a shaky hand, and the label ended up covering up the logo. The whole shipment was blocked at the port in Belgium.The suggestion is to make a physical model of each label and post it in an obvious place on the production line.

What do you do when you encounter problems?

If you have received a warning, don't panic.We immediately contact the importer to get a detailed report. We need to find out whether the problem is with the labeling or with the product itself.If the problem is with the labels, they are quickly reprinted and sent out. If the problem is a design flaw, it might require an adjustment in the optical structure.Remember, the EU usually only gives 30 days for rectification. The faster you move, the less damage you will suffer.

A long-term strategy for compliance.

Every month, I take half an hour to go over the CEN website. They often post revisions.Another suggestion is to join a group of people in your field.For example, a member reminded us last month that laser equipment with variable focus now has to carry a dynamic warning label. It's hard to keep track of these kinds of details on your own.