HSE WARNING OVER SAFETY ADVICE ON UPGRADING PERSONAL COMPUTERS

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today expressed concern about advice given in some computer magazines to home computer owners on how to install electrostatic sensitive components in computers.

To prevent damage to components from static electricity computer owners are being given the potentially dangerous advice to:

Plug the computer in to the mains;

Switch off the power supply at the mains;

Earth themselves to the computer chassis using a conductive wrist strap.

The HSE warns that this procedure can be dangerous. If there is a fault in the computer power supply, or if the electric socket is wired incorrectly, the computer chassis can become live and give a fatal electric shock.

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