With the power levels we are using goggles are not required. Our guys are trained not to stare at the end of a fibre but not withstanding that the power level is such that no issues should occur.
Like with a class 1M laser (equivalent of the old Class 3A) even with a safety factor of 10 it is stated you would have to stare at the fibre end from a distance of 150mm for over 100 seconds (haven't checked those figures so it is something like that) before there was a chance of damage to the eye. This is not a natural thing to do.
Our lasers are in the lower end of Class 1M
However If you are using some form of magnification (ie endoscope) then you would be an idiot to stare into the fibre with out 100% confidence that that there is nothing hooked to the other end.
Thanks Simon. We're using mainly 1000LX and 1000SX GBIC's and MDA's which are all to my knowledge, Class 1 or Class 1M Devices. The testing that we'd expect guys on the ground to do doesn't involve endoscopes or any other form of magnification - simply a light continuity test to aid in validating end-to-end, which fibre we're dealing with and whether there is a likely physical break in the cable. Fibre in the situation i'm thinking of, is generally used for distribution between buildings in a campus environment, so we wont be seeing 1-person-seeing-both-ends situation very often. I guess then, untill such time as we see high-power laser based emitters in use on our infrastructure, that we won't have to worry about any additional protection, aside from the usual 'don't be a goon and stare at the fibre ends' advice given. Cheers all. Mark. PS: The 'other eye' advice is well taken. =)