“The single most important concept in the field of static control is grounding. Attaching all electrically conductive and dissipative items in the workplace to ground allows built-up electrostatic charges to equalize with ground potential. A grounded conductor cannot hold a static charge.” – “ANSI / ESD 6.1 ESD Association Standard for the Protection of Electrostatic Discharge Susceptible Items – Grounding”.
In ANSI/ESD S20.20 Section 8.2 (Personnel Grounding), recommended requirements are outlined for how personnel should be electrically connected to a grounding system with a wrist strap. S20.20 also includes recommendations for “ESD Control items” (i.e., esd mats and wrist straps) in Section 8.3 ESD Protected Areas (EPAs).
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Sometimes there’s confusion about how ESD mats work and where they should be used. In professional ESD control programs, mats are selected and evaluated for their intended application in accordance with ESD Association standards.
For worksurfaces (benches, carts, shelves), use ANSI/ESD S4.1 criteria and test methods (e.g., resistance to groundable point and point-to-point). For floors/floor mats, use ANSI/ESD S7.1 for flooring material performance—and when the mat is part of a footwear/floor grounding system, evaluate it using the footwear + floor system test methods (and verify in the program per TR53).
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Have you ever wondered how to ground an
