Laser pointers help up to the light - A risk assessment

For several years, small hand-held lasers have been available to the general public, incorporated into items such as pens, key rings, pocket-knives and credit cards. These small diode lasers emit red light with a power varying between one and five milliwatts. Such devices were originally intended as pointers, for use by people making presentations or giving lessons. However, being cheap and compact, they are often now used as novelties, with the result that one comes across them on the street, in discotheques and in classrooms.