Erwin Heberer is a publicly certified and sworn expert for laser safety of lasers for material processing in Germany.

As manager and owner of GELA GmbH Gehör-, Lärm- und Arbeitsschutz (noise protection, welding protection and work safety), he works successfully in the field of engineering and constructing of laser protections plants, especially for the industry with inter-linked plants, since 1985.

Erwin Heberer holds patents in Germany, USA and big European countries for the BG (professional association) certified modular single- and multiple-chamber system, worldwide one of the safest laser guard systems. Erwin Heberer works in national and international committees, such as the IEC TC 76 Laser Guards, VDE GK 841 laser protection and DIN/EN 12254.

With GELA GmbH experiments at the Force Institut in Copenhagen and at the Fraunhofer Institut for Laser Technology (ILT) in Aachen were accomplished, which led to interesting results. For instance, parallel hot-spots with up to 85% of the irradiated power were discovered.

In the year 2004 DIN 60825-4 was supplemented with appendix E as informative guideline. One part of it is a risk analysis, based on one developed by Erwin Heberer. Since the year 2003 the normative appendix D of the testing method is valid, which was as well developed by Erwin Heberer and has led to changes in international standards.