1.3.2.1 Lab – Safety Answers

Safe working conditions help prevent injury to people and damage to computer equipment. A safe workspace is clean, organized, and properly lit. Everyone must understand and follow safety procedures.

In this activity, you will review some of the safety procedures.

Some personal safety guidelines can prevent cuts, burns, electrical shock, and damage to eyesight. As a best practice, make sure that a fire extinguisher and first-aid kit are available. Proper cable management can prevent tripping hazards in a network installation.

Here are a few examples of basic safety precautions:

Question:

What other simple precautions can you take to prevent injury or cause equipment damage while working with computer hardware?

Type your answers here.

Following electrical safety guidelines helps to prevent electrical fires, injuries, and fatalities.

For example, some printer parts become hot during use. Power supplies contain high voltage.

Questions:

What can you do to prevent injury or damage to printer parts?

Type your answers here.

Answers will vary. You can check the printer manual for the location of high-voltage components. Some components retain a high voltage even after the printer is turned off. Make sure that the printer has had time to cool before making the repair.

What can you do to prevent injury or damage power supplies for computers?

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Answers will vary. Electrical devices have certain power requirements. For example, AC adapters are manufactured for specific laptops. Exchanging AC adapters with a different type of laptop or device may cause damage to both the AC adapter and the laptop.

Equipment Grounding

To protect the technicians, electrical equipment should be grounded to prevent electrocution. If the metal parts in the equipment becomes energized, the equipment ground provides a lower resistant path for the current to flow to the ground rather than through the handler of the faulty device.

Questions

Perform an internet search to answer the following questions:

How do you ground devices, such as PCs and printers?

Type your answers here.

The PCs and printers are grounded via the power plug.

How are large metal equipment racks grounded?

Type your answers here.

Answers may vary. The most basic method is the use of a ground wire. As the application becomes more critical, the grounding requirements need to following industry standards.

Note: In some countries, portable appliance testing is done to ensure that an equipment is safe to use.

Fire can spread rapidly and be very costly. Proper use of a fire extinguisher can prevent a small fire from getting out of control. Locate and read the instructions on the fire extinguishers in your workplace before you need to use them.

When working with computer components, be alert for odors emitting from computers and electronic devices. When electronic components overheat or short out, they emit a burning smell. If there is a fire, follow these safety procedures:

Use a web browser or a fire extinguisher to review the proper procedure to use a fire extinguisher to answer the following questions.

Questions:

When maintaining a PC or installing new equipment, you should be aware of your compliance to local government regulation with regards to health and safety laws, building codes and environmental regulations.

Health and Safety Laws

For example, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards are a set of guidelines and requirements to minimize health and safety risks in United States-based workplaces. The employers provide safe and healthy working environments for their employees. The employees should be informed and complied with the guidelines, report any hazards and modify or install any equipment or materials without proper authorization.

Questions:

Perform an internet search to locate the governing body for health and safety in the workplace for your country. Record the official title and link to the website.

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Answers will vary. In the United States, the OSHA standards can be found at https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs. In Canada, the Occupational Health and Safety standards (OH&S) can be found at Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (https://www.ccohs.ca/). In the UK, Health and Safety Executive (https://www.hse.gov.uk/) provides the guidance.

Using the answer to previous question, document the safety guidance or standards about electrical safety from the website. Be sure to include anything that could prevent electrical hazards.

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Answers will vary. For example, to avoid electrocution, you should never use any damaged electrical receptables or connectors.

Building Codes

Building codes are the legal regulations that must be followed to meet the minimum acceptable level of safety for building and structures. The building regulations ensure the heath, safety, and protection of the public during construction and occupancy of the buildings.

The building regulations are determined by the appropriate authorities and can vary depending on the location.

Question:

Perform an internet search for your local building codes. List of some of the building codes that is adopted locally.

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Answers will vary. Examples of codes adopted are International Building Code (IBC), International Residential Code (IRC), and International Mechanical code (IMC).

Environmental Regulations

When any equipment has reached the end of life, it should be disposed correctly. The equipment may be donated, recycled, or destroyed per environmental regulations.

Question:

A business has replaced 50 laptops and looking for a way to disposed of them properly. Find a local facility that can disposed of them properly and describe what will the local facility do with the laptops.

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Answers will vary. Some computer manufacturers offer electronic recycling. Depending on the facility, the data on the laptops is destroyed and the laptops are recycled using methods that meet the state and federal environmental laws.