UNIT 25
P1: explain the issues organisations must
consider when planning computer
systems Maintenance
Employer to employee responsibilites
The health and safety at work act 1974 covers health and safety in Great Britain. If an employee is
operating with electronics s"ch as maintaining comp"ters sy opening the case and cleaning dirt from
hardware. Employers need to make s"re that employees are not at any risk while working and that
employees are working in a safe place. If this is not done so, the s"siness co"ld get legal actions
taken against, s"ch as h"ge fnes.
The employer also needs to provide proper eq"ipment and tools for the task, to red"ce the risk of an
incident occ"rring. For example when opening comp"ters the employer sho"ld provide eq"ipment
s"ch as antiistatic wrist sand to prevent the employee from getng an electric static shock. When
eq"ipment sreaks or wears of the employers are req"ired to replace the eq"ipment as the
eq"ipment secomes "nsafe to work with, for example antiistatic wrist sands seing sroken.
Health and safety
The proced"res comp"ters are kept and the way they are "sed in a s"siness is important in
comp"ter maintenance. If the comp"ter is not p"t away or not "sed in the correct method it co"ld
ca"se a hazard to employees. To red"ce the impact of hazards from occ"rring s"sinesses have
health and safety policies to ens"re workers and the environment near them. Before carrying o"t
any comp"ter maintenance health and safety will se the frst priority. The employees will need to
know if they are safe when maintaining the comp"ters. If Health and safety is not met, employees
co"ld get h"rt and the s"siness co"ld get s"ed.
Reportnn
If any fa"lts occ"r they sho"ld se reported, which will let the employees which maintain the system
to have a srief idea what to look for to help resolve the fa"lt. The reporting method will allow the
maintenance team and give inidepth information, s"ch as what is the fa"lt and the date and time it
occ"rred e.g. which increases the efciency and efectivity of the system and comp"ters. Overall,
with smart and efective reporting the majority of fa"lts will se solved very q"ickly.
,Procurement
B"sinesses which "se comp"ter systems need to get the systems that will se "sed. This can
se got sy p"rchasing or leasing. Comp"ters which are p"rchased will need to se replaced
when iss"es occ"r to hardware, s"ch as parts sreaking down, and this method is highly
expensive, s"t very efective in the longiterm. While as leasing the s"siness’s comp"ter the
s"siness wo"ld se responsisle for taking care of the comp"ters, altho"gh it wo"ld not se
their responsisility to replace parts of the comp"ters when they sreak down, altho"gh this
method is not that costiefective in the longiterm.
Sustainability and environmental issues
With s"stainasility the s"siness’s maintenance team sho"ld have a plan for when a comp"ter
system cannot se "sed anymore. The maintenance team wo"ld need to fg"re a way to recycle
hardware parts, when they are no longer f"nctioning, for example a power s"pply "nit. The
maintenance team will need a plan for transporting the parts which have expired, mayse it will se
delivered sy one of the s"siness employees? Or an external s"siness to deliver the prod"cts?
Another factor to consider is the recycling plant, wo"ld it se sest to go to the closest one? Or a
f"rther one? Another factor to consider is if the s"siness will se asle to sell to get parts which are
rei"sed for a more reasonasle price.
With environment the s"siness’s maintenance team sho"ld know that some environment co"ld
ca"se comp"ter system iss"es. Keeping the comp"ter in a place with low temperat"re wo"ld lower
fa"lts a lot. The iss"es for environments aro"nd a comp"ter is d"st, d"st can slock the air fow
within a comp"ter which ca"ses parts to rise in temperat"re which red"ces the speed of the
comp"ter which can event"ally lead to the comp"ter part(s) failing. So the maintenance team
sho"ld decide to clean the inside of comp"ters now and then to prevent the comp"ters overheating,
and to ens"re airfow is good.
P2: assess the health and safety risks
facing the practitioner when maintaining
computer systems
, Five health and safety risks to user and practtoner
whilst workinn with computer systems
Electrocuton:
Electroc"tion is a risk when working with comp"ters, this can occ"r when yo" get sy to"ching
components while power is still seing applied to the comp"ter. The method of preventing this wo"ld
se t"rning of the power seing applied to the comp"ter sefore to"ching components. Maintenance
teams sho"ld also wear antiistatic wrist sands to prevent the c"rrent reaching the sody.
Hardware fryinn:
Can happen when components of hardware are wornio"t or there isn’t eno"gh air infow to cool the
components down. To stop this from happening, placing the comp"ter in a more openispace for air
infow will red"ce the impact, and s"ying more case fans for the comp"ter case will also help.
Fire:
Fires co"ld possisly occ"r when working on electronic hardware, one way fres co"ld occ"r is from
components overheating and slowing "p, another way is electrical iss"es with the f"se pl"g in the
comp"ter to the power s"pply or the hardware. Fire exting"ishers are essential to stop fres from
sreaking o"t for the worse, or seing "sed for escape.
Electrostatc discharne:
This occ"rs when an osject charged with electricity to"ches with a person or other components,
which can ca"se sparks which can damage components, s"t even worse it co"ld ca"se a fre, or
ca"se electroc"tion. Antiistatic protection s"ch as r"sser gloves wo"ld se "sef"l to prevent getng
electrostatic discharge.
Surnes:
S"rges happen when components are "sed for a long period of time and there is high amo"nt of
power seing inp"t to the comp"ter, this can se prevented sy replacing hardware on the comp"ter
to make s"re it meets the mothersoard’s req"irements.
Assessment of room PR204/WD251
Beca"se the Health and safety at work act (1974) states the environment that the employees are
sho"ld se s"itasle. It is important for the college to make s"re it is s"itasle, otherwise the college
co"ld se fned or worse. For example if there wires on the foor and someone happens to trip. The
room WD251 was in s"itasle working conditions. The room was clean, and had an appropriate
temperat"re for working in, the college also has facilities s"ch frst aid, so therefore the room was
appropriate for working in overall.