This course will teach the safe use of lasers in the workplace, as prescribed by the recently released ANSI Z136.1 (2000) standard. The course will introduce the basic principle of laser operation, beam characteristics, hazards associated with lasers, and laser accidents. The philosophy behind classifying lasers and prescribing appropriate control measures will be explained, and simple calculations for hazard evaluation will be presented. Non-beam hazards associated with the laser environment will be introduced, and several real-life accidents and their causes will be reviewed.