Q: Will standing on “ESD” Flooring be the same as wearing a Wrist Strap?
A: It depends what you're standing on and what you’re wearing on your feet.
Firstly, you need to define what the “ESD” Flooring is.
If it’s Antistatic – then there is no guarantee of grounding through it at all, as Antistatic only means that it shouldn’t generate or retain a static charge.
If it’s Conductive or Dissipative, then grounding through appropriate grounding footwear, i.e. Heel Strap, Toe Strap or Shoes, is possible. The degree of efficiency however will depend on the Resistance-to-Ground (RG) value of the flooring medium; whether it’s temporary matting or a permanent installation.
The answer would be NO, if there is insufficient conductivity through your footwear / flooring system to allow effective grounding.
The answer would be YES, if you are wearing correctly fitted grounding footwear & standing on suitable Conductive or Dissipative flooring. read more here …
IEC61340 & ANSI/ESD S20.20 recommends that the total RG of personnel, through the static control floor, is < 3.5 x 107Ohms / 35 MOhms. That means that the total resistance value of:
- Person
- Grounding footwear
- Static Control Flooring
- Connected grounding system
should be less than 35 MOhms.
It is very important to know what you have & what you need, when it comes to Static Control Flooring. For example:
- What level of static control do you need to achieve?
- Is mobility of personnel an issue?
- What is the impact on process / layout?
- Are personnel standing &/or sitting?
- Audit / control of material performance.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your requirements, please contact the office.