The main safety concern in working with lasers is never to look directly into the beam.
Some sources recommend avoiding reflections of the beam from shiny surfaces, as well.
However, in addition all of the light from a laser is at one frequency, often one which can be damaging to the eyes, so I usually said that looking at the laser pointer is roughly equivalent to staring at the sun with open eyes. I was careful to stress to my audiences several times never to look directly into the beam or shine it in anyone's eyes.