Optoelectronic sensor and method for detecting objects

A sensor is provided for the detection of objects in a monitored zone that has at least one light transmitter for transmitting a plurality of mutually separated light beams, at least one light receiver for generating a respective received signal from the light beams remitted in the monitored zone, a movable deflection unit with whose aid the transmitted light beams are periodically guided through the monitored zone to respectively scan a scanning layer in the course of the movement of the scanning unit by the separated light beams, and a control and evaluation unit that is configured to acquire information on the objects in the monitored zone from the respective received signal. The presence of a safety-relevant object is determined per scanning layer and a decision whether a safety-directed response is triggered is made by a common evaluation of the presence of a safety-relevant object determined per scanning layer.