Precaution to be taken when working on or near ''live'' equipment?

Make sure all power sources are disconnected and capacitors are drained before working with a device.

Make sure you are properly grounded, because static electricity contains thousands of volts and can easily fry an intergrated chip.

If possible, work out the circuit on paper before attempting to build it.

Make sure you meet the wattage constraints of each component in the circuit or you may cause severe damage to them. If you see or smell smoke, cut power and then check each piece of the circuit to determine which one you have burned. Blown capacitors make a loud pop and are very easy to spot because it has strewn itself all over the work bench.

Your main concern should be that you and the work area is sitting at earth ground. Some of these IC parts are very sensitive to voltage liKe ESD.