What safety precautions should I observe when handling electronics?

I’m planning on breaking open a fan to see how it works and potentially salvage the engine for a homemade robot. Now I imagine I’ll need to supply power to it at some point so I’ll need to insulate myself… Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I’m also wondering if I’ll encounter any nasty nasty chemicals when breaking stuff open and where exactly I should stop breaking things open. I don’t suppose I’ll get my hands on anything soon but I’d like to know what tools are most useful when fixing electronics…