Data Center Safety Essentials

Hazards and rules of live mission-critical facilities: white space & gray space, owners, operators, customers & contractors, the OSH Act, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart S, NFPA 70E, the NEC & NFPA 75 and 76, access control & escorts, raised floors, open tiles & floor loading in lbf, cables, fiber, noise dose & airflow, ASHRAE inlet temperatures & hot aisle heat, power chain awareness, arc flash boundaries & EPOs, moving 3,100 lb AI racks, change control, methods of procedure & maintenance windows, contractors, permits & impairments, emergencies and clean agent alarms, with a capstone orientation and MOP review.

HSE-320 12 lessons · 5 h 21 min

Offered by HSM University · Safety Training

This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.

What you'll learn

Explain how live, mission-critical and dense data centers differ from other workplaces, and identify the main hazards of white space and gray space.
Identify the parties with safety duties in a data center and the laws, codes and standards that apply in the United States, including the OSH Act, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart S, NFPA 70E, the National Electrical Code and NFPA 75 and 76.
Follow site rules, access control and escort requirements, and explain how they support emergency headcount and change control.
Work safely around raised floors, open tiles and underfloor plenums, and check equipment loads against concentrated, uniform and rolling floor ratings.
Control trip, fiber, clutter, containment and airflow hazards in data halls, and calculate daily noise dose under Canadian and US criteria.
Recognize heat stress in hot aisles and other environmental hazards, using the ASHRAE inlet range and temperature rise to anticipate hot aisle conditions.
Describe the data center power chain and why equipment can remain energized, and apply electrical awareness rules, approach boundaries and EPO practices as an unqualified person.
Plan the lifting, moving and installation of heavy equipment and integrated racks, including ramp forces, tipping stability and loading dock controls.
Explain change enablement and the role of methods of procedure, and review a MOP for identifiers, redundancy, energy sources, controls, hold points and backout.
Manage contractors, permits, fire protection impairments and construction interfaces in live facilities, including handover at energization.
Respond correctly to data center emergencies, including clean agent pre-discharge alarms, electrical injuries, medical emergencies, leaks and battery warnings.
Prepare a site-specific orientation and a structured MOP review for a colocation facility.

Course content

12 lessons · 5 h 21 min total · final exam

1 How data centers differ from other workplaces 30 min · quiz
2 Roles, law and safety programs 27 min · quiz
3 Site rules, access control and escorts 26 min · quiz
4 Data hall hazards I: raised floors, tiles and floor loading 26 min · quiz
5 Data hall hazards II: cables, clutter, noise and airflow 26 min · quiz
6 Heat, cold and the work environment 24 min · quiz
7 Electrical rooms and power distribution awareness 29 min · quiz
8 Lifting, moving and installing equipment 27 min · quiz
9 Change control, methods of procedure and maintenance windows 28 min · quiz
10 Contractors, construction and work in live facilities 26 min · quiz
11 Emergencies in data centers 27 min · quiz
12 Capstone: site orientation and MOP review for an invented colocation facility 25 min · quiz
E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

HSE-103 Hazard Recognition and Risk Assessment

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.