In this document there is information about the first assignment for Unit 12 - IT Technical support and management. It covers the pass criteria, merit criteria and distinction criteria. It covers the purpose and nature of safe working practices required in the support and management of different I...
Introduction
In this assignment, I have been asked to create a report where I will evaluate the support
and management needs of an IT service. I will talk about the nature of IT system support,
the purpose of safe working practices and job roles, and network systems used by at least
two different organisations.
Purpose and nature of IT system support
The purpose of IT system support is to help provide support and management to a
computer-based business or organisation to ensure it runs smoothly. In a place of
work like a school, there are a lot of different roles, meaning there is a lot of data and
potential problems that come with that. This would mean IT system support staff
having to be monitoring the data and making upgrades to the hardware and software
in order for it to be more secure. They would also back up the system once a week in
case of system failure.
Purpose and Nature of safe working practices
Safe working practices are needed in a place of business in order to protect
employees from any potential danger. They provide structure, ensuring that the work
is as safe as possible on a consistent basis.The Health and Safety Act enforces safe
work practises. An organisation like a college has safe working practices.
As an IT support service in a college such as Gateshead College one of the things
you will need to do is enforce rules to keep students and staff from computers; for
example, no liquids around computers as it could cause electrocution or overload
plug sockets. Other tasks they would have to do include maintaining the equipment
such as the PCS, servers, and other peripherals to make sure they are safe and
work effectively. There are many regulations that come with safe working practices
that IT support technicians must follow. First one is the Health and Safety(Display
Screen Equipment) regulations, meaning that they would assess how the screen
is used and the potential risks. They will be checking things like the screen, mouse,
keyboard , software, and environment. Other things they would examine are the level
of height the monitor is for the user or the comfort of the chair. Even if these seem
very minor, they are very major as it is important the user is as comfortable as
possible while using the computer. Another safe work practice would be portable
appliance testing, where electrical equipment and devices are inspected and tested
for safety The majority of electrical safety flaws can be identified simply by inspecting
the item.To make sure you do not overlook any flaws, you must conduct additional
testing.
, The second legislation that is important is The Manual Handling Operations
regulations. As an employer of an IT support service you must make a suitable and
adequate risk assessment that shows the main principles of manual handling
loads.Employees also have the responsibility of taking care of their own health and
safety and the safety of others; for example they must communicate with their co
worker if they see they’re not abiding by their health and safety duties. Also
knowing how to assess the scenario and know if you are capable of handling it ; for
example if you're trying to put something on a shelf and it is above your shoulder
then you probably shouldn’t be lifting it. This practice would be used when an
organisation needs new equipment or maybe needs to remove old equipment from
their workplace. In IT based context an example would be a college needing new
PCs in a department so the people delivering and setting up the PCs will need to
know about the rules of manual handling.
.
Another safe working practice Electrical safety. Electrics can injure you or damage
equipment so in order to prevent that there are some safeguard steps you need to
take. One is that when working on a PC you must make sure that the PC isn’t
plugged into the mains even if it is turned off. Another important electricity threat is
electrostatic discharge . This is the passage of electric current between two electrical
objects.It is important that precautions are taken so the components in the PC such
as the microchips do not get destroyed. So to prevent this while working you would
make sure that the device is grounded and on an antistatic mat; and also wear an
antistatic wrist strap so you are secure from static electricity building up in the body.
A legislation that enforces this safe working practices is The Electricity at Work
Regulations 1989. This legislation is about carrying out work on electrical systems in
a way that prevents injuries or even death.
As an outsource IT support company you should know about the standards of
information security and this can be learnt by the ISO 27000 series. They provide the
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