-: In this lesson, we're going to talk about
some safety procedures that you should be aware of
as you begin working as a technician.
Now, if you're following along in this course
and you want to try to build
your own custom personal computer,
then it's going to be very important that you consider
your own personal safety
as you perform the different actions
that I'm going to perform in these videos.
There are four main areas of safety
that you need to consider
when you're working as a technician.
Personal safety, component safety,
electrical safety, and chemical safety.
First, we have personal safety.
Now, everything we're going to talk about in this video
could be considered personal safety
because we want to prevent injuring ourselves
when we're working.
But really for the topic of personal safety,
you need to focus on avoiding trip hazards,
utilizing proper lifting techniques,
and using safety goggles and masks.
Avoiding trip hazards is an important step
to ensuring your safety and the safety of your coworkers.
A trip hazard occurs anytime you have an object
in the pathway where people are going to walk.
Most commonly, this occurs
when a technician runs a power cable
or a network cable across the floor
from an outlet or a wall jack
into a desktop computer or workstation.
To prevent people from tripping over these cables,
you should always run cables through your drop ceilings,
underneath your raised floors,
or you should use a cable runway that covers the distance
across the floor to prevent people from tripping.
Anytime you're working on a desktop
or other piece of equipment,
make sure you don't put that equipment or components
in the pathways that people normally are walking as well.
Always clean up after yourself
to ensure that people don't trip over any garbage
or old components that you left out
when working on a system.
Another personal safety item
is to follow and utilize proper lifting techniques.
Whenever you attempt to lift a heavy or bulky object,
you can injure your back or strain your muscles
if you aren't careful.
So if you're lifting a heavy object,
always lift with your legs and not your back.
This means you should bend your knees
to lower yourself down and grab that object,
instead of bending over at the waist to pick it up.
If the object is too large, bulky,
or heavy to carry yourself, you can ask a coworker
or buddy to be able to buddy lift it
or buddy carry that object with you,
or use a push cart to move the object from place to place.
If the object is over 40 to 50 pounds,
you should probably have someone help you lift it
because we consider this a two-person or team lift.
Now, the next personal safety item we're going to use
is safety goggles, gloves, and masks.
When working around certain components,
you may be using chemical compounds,
such as thermal paste when installing a processor,
or compressed air to clean out a piece of equipment.
In these cases, you always need to use safety goggles
to prevent anything from going into your eyes,
gloves to prevent the chemicals from getting on your skin,
and masks to ensure you don't breathe in those chemicals,
dust or other particulates.
The second area of safety for us to consider
is known as component safety.
Now, component safety includes the actions
that you're going to take to prevent damaging the components
that you're going to be working with.
The biggest threat to your component is known as ESD,
or electrostatic discharge.
Now, electrostatic discharge
occurs when a path allows electrons
to rush from a statically charged body
to a component that doesn't have a charge.
So if you've just walked across a carpeted floor,
you're going to be building up static electricity in your body.
And then if you touch a motherboard, an expansion card,
or other circuit board,
you can actually discharge that static electricity
from your body into that component and it will damage it.
To prevent ESD from damaging your components,
you should always carry your components around
in an antistatic bag that protects it from ESD
by using a coating inside of that bag
that is a conductive material.
This prevents static electricity from discharging from you
through the bag to the component.
Now, when it comes time
to handle the components for installation,
you're going to need to wear an ESD wrist strap
that discharges the static electricity
from your body into a ground.
And this prevents an electrostatic discharge
from going into the components instead.
Now, as I demonstrate working with the different components
to build a computer in this course,
you're going to see me using antistatic bags
to carry the components, an ESD wrist strap
when I handle those components,
and an ESD mat that holds the computer and the components
when I go to install the components into a given system.
The third area of safety for us to consider
is known as electrical safety.
Now, our computers, servers, printers and other equipment
all rely on electricity to function properly.
To protect yourself from the threat of electrocution,
you should always unplug the computer
prior to working inside of its case.
For example, if you're going to install more memory
or replace an expansion card,
you should fully shut down the computer,
unplug the power cord, and then go to work on the system.
Additionally, when you connect a computer or other equipment
to a power outlet, you should always ensure
that your equipment is properly grounded
and that the equipment is plugged into a surge protector
to prevent damage to your equipment
during a high voltage event.
The fourth area of safety for us to consider
is known as chemical safety.
Now, as part of your job as a technician,
you're going to come across various hazardous
and chemical materials.
Now, in addition to wearing protective gear
like goggles, gloves, and masks,
you also need to know how to properly handle
and dispose of hazardous materials and chemicals.
This includes lithium batteries, toner from laser printers,
hazardous materials and components such as lead, mercury
and arsenic, and many others.
For each chemical or hazardous material
that you work with in your job,
you should have access to a material safety data sheet
known as the MSDS, which contains all the information
about the ingredients, health hazards, precautions,
and first aid information for that given chemical
or hazardous material that you're going to be working with.
So remember, when it comes to working with computers
and handling different components and equipment
that you're going to see me using in this course,
always take the proper safety precautions
to prevent injuring yourself, others, or your equipment
by following the proper personal safety, component safety,
electrical safety, and chemical safety procedures.