Indicia reader safety

Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure from an indicia reader configured to read UV sensitive security marks is limited by determining that an item has one or more UV-sensitive security marks, activating a UV light source to read the UV-sensitive security marks, and if a UV exposure risk is detected, then deactivating the UV light source. The exposure risk may include the expiration of a time period, detecting that the item is no longer visible in the indicia readers field of view, or the detection of an object adversely affected by UV light, e.g. a human or human body part. The indicia reader 1 may be configured with two illumination light sources: a primary light source 30 for illuminating primary indicia (e.g., a barcode) 3 and a secondary ultraviolet (UV) light source 40 for revealing secondary indicia (e.g., UV fluorescent watermarks) 4 used to protect against counterfeit and fraud. The primary indicia may provide information that classifies the item, and the secondary light source may only be activated if the items class matches a class stored in the readers memory 60.