Artificial Optical Radiation: Guide for using the Database

The Artificial Optical Radiation Database has been developed for the following purposes:

a) guarantee an easy retrieval of the exposure values related to OPTICAL RADIATION produced by widely used industrial, health and research machinery/apparatus/source, in order to promote, as far as possible, the implementation of interventions aimed at reducing the risk and protecting workers yet in the course of risk assessment, without having to recur to measures that are often expensive and complex.

b) allow the employers and their consultants to identify the machines/sources that reduce to the minimum the risk of exposure to optical radiation, when purchasing new machinery or replacing the obsolete one.

DATA CONTAINED IN THE EXPOSURE DATABASE

For each machinery or apparatus present in the PAF, two types of data are provided:

The machine identification data, in order to properly identify the machinery/apparatus itself.
Specific data concerning sources/lamps that it contains.

The following is an example of the machine identification data reported in the portal in the case of an infrared heater:

Model of the apparatus: XXXXX
Picture of the apparatus:
TYPE:
Infrared heater system
Power: 1500 Kw
Reference standard (for the purposes of AOR emission certification): In the case under examination: IEC EN 62471
Classification in accordance
Brand of the apparatus: XXXX
with IEC-EN 62471 / IEC-EN 60825-1:
- Available/ Not available (the data - if available - can be found in the instruction manual and is provided by the manufacturer)
Category in accordance with EN12198-1 (0,1,2): Also this data can be found in the instruction manual and is provided by the manufacturer when the apparatus falls within the Machinery Directive: in the case under examination: non applicable

Then, the specific AOR source mounted inside the apparatus, to which the measures reported in the portal refer, is characterized. In this respect, it must be noted that, in the case of AOR, it can happen that the same equipment/machinery has different lamps mounted at its inside, in the operating conditions of use.

The PAF is pre-arranged in order to report exactly the features of both the machinery under evaluation and the sources mounted at its inside when performing the assessment.

SOURCE DATA (example: infrared heater)

Type: incandescent lamp

Emission: Continuous
N° of illuminating bodies: 1
Brand of the source's manufacturer: XXX
Model of the source: XXX
Classification in accordance with IEC-EN 62471 / IEC-EN 60825-1: (0-3)
Picture of the source:

RESULTS OF THE AOR MEASUREMENTS

The following specific results concerning the machinery/source set are provided:

Relevant spectral emissions: Example for IR heater: IRA-IRB-Blue light
Hazard distance: The hazard distance over which the exposure to the AOR emitted by the machinery is not harmful: e.g.: 240 cm
Protection measures to put in place in the specific case. They are divided in:
- Delimitation of a controlled area.
- Behavioural modes. E.g.: Avoid having the source in the field of view in workstations that are located at distances from the source lower than the hazard distance.
- Modes and criteria of use of PPEs.

The analytical results of the irradiance/radiance measures performed at different distances and/or conditions of use of the apparatus are then reported in terms of:

Distance from the source.
Maximum permissible exposure time of a non protected subject's eyes/skin. This time is defined by using the criterion of avoiding to exceed the exposure limit values, by taking into account the level of exposure measured at the specific location.

PROCEDURES FOR THE PROPER USE OF THE DATA CONTAINED IN THE DATABASE

The exposure data reported in the Database can be used for the purposes of risk assessment only for undamaged apparatuses, and when the technical specifications of the machinery/source set present in the workplace agree with those reported in the PAF - Exposure database for the specific machinery/sources set.