Dressing for Safety

Dressing for Safety
Just as important as the work space is how you dress when you are working on a PC. Don’t worry, you won’t need to invest in a new wardrobe just so that you can build a PC. Just follow these simple tips:

• Wear cotton clothing and rubber-soled shoes (such as sneakers). These are best because they reduce the build-up of static charge.

• Avoid loose clothing. Sleeves, collars, scarves, and ties are a bad idea, because they can catch on the edges of the equipment. The absolute best clothing for PC building is a boiler suit!

• Be careful if you wear glasses. You don’t want your glasses falling into the workings of the PC. You can get an elasticized band, such as a sports band, that fits around them to hold them in place if they are a little loose and you’re worried about them falling off.

• Remove all jewelry if at all possible. Jewelry such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, and pendants can cause short circuits that can damage delicate components. If you have rings that you can’t or don’t want to remove, then cover them with insulating or surgical tape.

• Put long hair in a ponytail or use hair clips. You don’t want that hair caught in anything!

• Use thin cotton gloves. Cotton gloves come in handy if you are worried about touching something hot or with a sharp edge. Make sure that the gloves are cotton and not synthetic (the last thing you want is hot, melted nylon or polyester on your hands!).

• Wear a barrier cream. A PC, no matter how short a period it has been switched on for, tends to gather dust and dirt quickly. This dust can be quite an effective skin irritant, so if you have sensitive skin, you might want to invest in a special barrier cream (a special cream available from hardware stores that you rub into your skin, which protects it from dust and chemicals, that you wash out when finished) to rub into your hands.Wash your hands after you’ve been working on a PC.