Before we get started - Safety First!

You might think that eye damage from working with lasers would be the big concern in fiber optic installations. The reality is that high power lasers burning holes in metal or burning off warts mostly have little relevance to your typical fiber optic installation. Optical sources used in fiber optics are generally of much lower power levels (The exception is high power DWDM or CATV systems). Of course, you should always be careful with your eyes, especially when using a fiber optic microscope which can concentrate all the light from the fiber into your eye. NEVER look into a fiber unless you know no light is present - use a power meter to check it - and anyway, the light is in the infrared and you can't see anything anyway!

The real safety lecture will always be about small scraps of glass cleaved off the ends of the fibers being terminated or spliced. These scraps are very dangerous! The cleaved ends are extremely sharp and can easily penetrate your skin. If they get into your eyes, they are very hard to flush out. Don't even think about what happens if you eat one. Always wear safety glasses whenever working with fiber and always carefully dispose of all fiber scraps!

December 1, 2011

Continue