Lifting and Moving Equipment Safely

 

When lifting heavy objects such as computers, laser printers, and CRTs, use safe lifting tech-niques. Always lift with your legs and keep your back straight. Rotate by moving your feet, not by twisting your back.

 

Know your own weight-lifting limitations. Get an associate to help you, or use a wheeled cart or dolly to help move an object that is too heavy for you to lift safely.

Chapter 5: Operational Procedures 93

 

Fighting Electrical Fires Safely

 

Standard Class AB fire extinguishers are useless against electrical fires and can cause shock haz-ards. However, a Class ABC-rated fire extinguisher can be used safely and effectively against elec-trical fires. The following explains the classes:

 

Class A is for paper and wood fires.

 

Class B is for flammable liquid (grease, gasoline, and so on) fires. Class C is for electrical fires.

 

A Class ABC extinguisher should be marked as such, but the markings are sometimes symbols:

 

Class A —Garbage can and wood symbol Class B —Gas can symbol

 

Class C —Electrical plug symbol

 

 

Safe Disposal of CRT Displays

 

CRTs contain capacitors that can retain lethal levels of voltage for quite some time after being removed from service. Do not open a CRT. If you want to have it repaired, have a repair depart-ment experienced in the safe repair of CRTs perform the work.

 

However, it is much more likely today that you will replace the unit with a modern LCD or LED display. Do not discard the display, because the magnets, lead, and other components represent toxic waste. Instead, recycle the unit through an authorized electronics recycling facility.

 

Cable Management

 

To prevent fall and trip hazards and the potential for damage to computers and other equipment, cable management should be practiced in both permanent installations and temporary work areas.

 

Depending on the situation, cable management can be as simple as the use of hook-and-loop (Velcro brand and others) to secure excess cable lengths and taping down cables in temporary installations to the use of floor cable covers, wall and ceiling mounted cable raceways, and cable looms to gather a computer’s cables into a convenient bundle.

 

Installation Regulations

 

Be sure to follow local government regulations that govern the types of cable that can be used in certain environments (for example, plenum versus PVC network cable) and who should install it. In some localities, a licensed cable installer may need to perform this work.

94 CompTIA A+ Quick Reference

 

Environmental Impacts and Environmental

 

Controls

 

The following sections review environmental issues you need to be aware of for the exam and in your real-world information technology work.

 

MSDS

 

Material safety data sheets (MSDS) need to be available for all items that have an MSDS in case of fire or other emergency. An MSDS includes instructions on how firefighters and hazmat crews should deal with evacuation and cleanup of dangerous chemicals. These chemicals include the silver oxide that is used to increase heat transfer from the CPU to the heat sink, the phosphorus in CRT monitors, and PVC-coated cables that turn into poisonous gas in a fire, to name a few. Even innocuous things, such as bug spray, glass cleaner, and even shampoo have chemicals that can require an MSDS.