Copy and paste from the following data to produce each assessment task. Write these in plain English and spell out how, when and where the task is to be carried out, under what conditions, and what resources are needed. Include guidelines about how well the candidate has to perform a task for it to be judged satisfactory.
Required skills
communication skills to provide advice and guidance to others
literacy skills to:
comprehend basic workplace documents and technical information
determine whether unserviceable components are replaceable through warranty, replacement or upgrade
interpret user manuals and help functions
problem-solving skills to address common operational problems with computer hardware
safety-awareness skills to work safely in regard to the specific hardware
technical skills to:
diagnose hardware problems
reload software
replace suspect components
reload associated software
select appropriate hardware for a given situation
set up and maintain hardware
undertake diagnostic procedures using OS and third-party diagnostic tools.
Required knowledge
range of quality levels in current common hardware
importance of maintenance
OHS principles specific to mains-powered equipment
potential environmental effects of common types of hardware
security issues:
viruses
worms
software related to hardware operations
system hardware and associated peripherals’ functions.
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
OHS standards may include: | electrical safety ergonomics in the workplace: correct posture style and adjustments of chair type of desk type of monitor working position length of time in front of computer lighting level placement of light fittings repetitive strain injury (RSI) prevention safe lifting methods ventilation. |
Hardware may include: | communications equipment: modems or other connectivity devices, including digital subscriber line (DSL) modems wireless access points network equipment: cables hubs racks routers servers switches personal computers (PCs) remote sites servers workstations. |
Safe work practices may include: | codes of practice hazards and hazardous material manual handling physical separation of data cables and mains cables reporting and following OHS procedures testing and tagging electrical mains cables. |
Environmental conditions may include: | air circulation dust extreme cold heat moisture temperature stability. |
System protection devices may include: | line conditioning surge protection uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). |
Peripherals may include: | Bluetooth device Firewire (IEEE 1394) device keyboard laptop mobile phone modem mouse multimedia kit pen personal digital assistant (PDA), such as palmtop printer scanner speaker tape cartridge touch pad universal serial bus (USB) device wi-fi router. |
Equipment may include: | DSL modems hard drives hubs modems or other connectivity devices monitors other peripheral devices PCs PDA printers switches workstations. |
Maintenance may include: | faulty components returned to depot on-site response planned maintenance: dust and grease removal from filters and components lubrication of fan and blower bearings remote diagnostics. |
Components may include: | CD and DVD drives central processing unit (CPU) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) battery fax or modem cards interface cards motherboards power supply random access memory (RAM). |
Software may include: | application: database internet browser spreadsheet word-processing commercial customised in-house programming: assembler compiler development tools system: computer security software device drivers OS. |
Operating systems may include: | GNU and Linux Mac OS X Microsoft Windows Unix-like operating systems: HP-UX IBM AIX Silicon Graphics IRIX Sun Solaris. |
Business requirements may include: | capability for further system upgrades cost and quality existing facilities industry standard components installation: ease lead time licensing issues reliability robustness service level agreements (SLAs) technical support required: in-house vendor. |
Copy and paste from the following performance criteria to create an observation checklist for each task. When you have finished writing your assessment tool every one of these must have been addressed, preferably several times in a variety of contexts. To ensure this occurs download the assessment matrix for the unit; enter each assessment task as a column header and place check marks against each performance criteria that task addresses.
Observation Checklist