Air bag question

[Lemming Train]

Can anyone tell me why the battery needs to be disconnected for exactly 1 hour before removing the air bag container from the steering wheel (in order to remove and replace a piece of broken steering wheel fascia housing the cruise control and radio volume control modules) ? An internet search hasn't provided me with a 'why', only a 'it needs to be done for 1 hour otherwise it might explode'. Do they have a capacitor in them or something which needs to deplete its charge or is there some other reason why I can't just d/c the battery and get cracking?

[foggy]

Exactly that - to allow electronics systems to discharge to minimise the likelihood of an arcing contact accidentally triggering deployment upon disconnection. Workshop best practise was 15 mins though, but often much less... Store removed airbags face up, ideally in a cage.

[Haltamer]

An hour seems a bit of a stretch. Usually it's more along the lines of 10 minutes? I'd disconnect the battery and crack on - By the time you've got the other bits out of the way of the airbag, I'm sure it would be fine.

[Lemming Train]

OK, thank you both.

[Penelope Stopit]

Why do I think that there is a safety circuit in the bombs plug contacts that bridges out its contacts before the plug fully disconnects?