A laser surgical method for performing a corneal incision while maintaining iris exposure below a predetermined exposure limit includes determining an initial iris exposure based on an initial treatment scan, determining whether the initial iris exposure is less than the predetermined exposure limit, generating a revised treatment scan comprising one or more treatment scan modifying elements when the initial iris exposure is greater than the predetermined exposure limit, and scanning the focal zone of a pulsed laser beam according to the revised treatment scan, thereby performing the corneal incision, wherein the one or more treatment scan modifying elements causes the iris exposure to be smaller than the predetermined exposure limit.