A technician forgot to bring an ESD wrist strap. How can they ground themselves to avoid damage while working on a computer?

A technician forgot to bring an ESD wrist strap. How can they ground themselves to avoid damage while working on a computer?

• A. Touch the metal chassis and sometimes the power supply to ground yourself
• B. Plug the power cord into the outlet and start work quickly
• C. Use a non-conductive mat
• D. Work while wearing rubber gloves

Answer: (A)

Grounding yourself to prevent ESD means giving any static charge on your body a safe path to leave you and go to earth. The computer’s metal chassis is tied to the building’s earth ground through the power supply, so when you touch it, static discharges to ground instead of into delicate electronics. That makes touching the chassis a practical way to ground yourself if you don’t have an ESD wrist strap. If possible, unplug the power before you start so the chassis isn’t energized, but even if you must work with power connected, keeping contact with a grounded metal surface provides the discharge path you need. Other options don’t reliably ground you: a non-conductive mat would insulate you rather than discharge static; rubber gloves don’t give a path to earth for static to flow; simply plugging in the power cord and starting work doesn’t guarantee grounding and can pose a shock risk.

Grounding yourself to prevent ESD means giving any static charge on your body a safe path to leave you and go to earth. The computer’s metal chassis is tied to the building’s earth ground through the power supply, so when you touch it, static discharges to ground instead of into delicate electronics. That makes touching the chassis a practical way to ground yourself if you don’t have an ESD wrist strap. If possible, unplug the power before you start so the chassis isn’t energized, but even if you must work with power connected, keeping contact with a grounded metal surface provides the discharge path you need. Other options don’t reliably ground you: a non-conductive mat would insulate you rather than discharge static; rubber gloves don’t give a path to earth for static to flow; simply plugging in the power cord and starting work doesn’t guarantee grounding and can pose a shock risk.