An arc welder in the datacenter: what could possibly go wrong?

In a story shared on The Register's "Who, Me?" segment, a former IBM customer engineer named Andrew recounted an incident from the 1960s and 1970s involving a stock exchange client with a cracked metal frame on a high-speed impact printer. Andrew, skilled in arc welding due to his family's metalwork business background, was called in to fix the frame. Years later, another IBM employee attempted a similar repair without experience, causing chaos by triggering fire alarms, shutting down critical systems, and evacuating IT staff during business hours. Despite following some of Andrew's process, the inexperienced employee's oversight led to an expensive unplanned break for the stock exchange. The blame was unfairly placed on Andrew, who had left the welding equipment onsite. This incident highlights the importance of expertise and caution when handling critical systems in sensitive environments.