Obtaining laser safety at a synchrotron radiation user facility: The Advanced Light Source

The Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a United States national facility for scientific research and development located at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. The ALS delivers the world's brightest synchrotron radiation in the far ultraviolet and soft X-ray regions of the spectrum. As a ‘user facility’ it is available to researchers from industry, academia, and laboratories from around the world. Subsequently, a wide range of safety concerns become involved. This article relates not only to synchrotron facilities but to any ‘user’ facility. A growing number of US centers are attracting organizations and individuals to use the equipment on site, for a fee. This includes synchrotron radiation and/or free electron facilities, specialty research centers, and laser job shops. Personnel coming to such a facility bring with them a broad spectrum of safety cultures. Upon entering, the guests must accommodate to the host facility safety procedures. This article describes a successful method to deal with that responsibility.