Would like to know safe procedure to immobilize air bags while working on steering wheel and door panels. Need to dissassemble and work on interior.

 

Just disconnect the negative side of the battery.

 

... , isolate the negative terminal and then wait for one minute before starting work.

It has to be said that a disconnected (removed from the car) airbag is never safe. There have been numerous documented accidents where airbags went off for no apparent reason.

When I was disassembling competitors' cars for a living, nobody on my team of technicians was too keen to get working on the airbag or belt tensioner units.

If you must carry or store an airbag, always carry it with the base plate to the floor. If it goes off, at least you only get the bag into your face and not the base plate, which can kill you. Also, do not hold it by the side (fingers underneath and thumbs on top), because if it goes off, it rips off your thumps. This has happened.

Cheers,
Uwe