2014/59/EU: Commission Decision of 5 February 2014 on the safety requirements to be met by European standards for consumer laser products pursuant to Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on general product safety Text with EEA relevance

For the purpose of this Decision: (1) ‘consumer laser product’ means any product or assembly of components that: (a) is intended for consumers, or likely to be used by consumers under reasonably foreseeable conditions even if not intended for them; and (b) constitutes or incorporates a laser or laser system and during operation permits access to laser radiation; (2) ‘child appealing consumer laser product’ means a consumer laser product that: (a) resembles, by virtue of its form or design, anything that is commonly recognized as being appealing to, or intended for use by, children; or (b) has any other feature or characteristic, not necessary for the function of the product, that is likely to be appealing to children; (3) ‘damage to the eyes or the skin’ means any effect of laser radiation detrimental to the structure or function of the eyes or the skin, whether reversible or irreversible.

The safety requirements to be met by European standards for consumer laser products pursuant to Directive 2001/95/EC shall be the following: (1) child appealing consumer laser products shall not cause damage to the eyes or the skin in case of any exposure to laser radiation that could occur under any conditions of use, including deliberate long-term exposure with optical viewing instruments; (2) all other consumer laser products shall not cause damage to the eyes or unintended damage to the skin in case of any exposure to laser radiation that could occur under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including momentary accidental or unintentional exposure; any intended damage to the skin caused by consumer laser products shall be compatible with a high level of consumer health and safety protection; (3) conformity with points 1 and 2 shall be achieved by technical means; (4) in the case of products that conform with point 2, if exposure to laser radiation that would cause damage to the eyes or the skin could occur under conditions of use other than those referred to in point 2, those products shall carry appropriate warning labels and shall be supplied with user instructions that contain all relevant safety information.

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.