Electrostatic Discharge: Causes, Solutions, and Products That Are ESD-Safe

We’re going back to primary school science when your teacher asked you to rub a balloon on your head. Do you remember your hair standing on its ends after a good rub? When your hair stands on its ends, that’s electrostatic discharge, otherwise known as static, at work. Although it was a fun school experiment, static electricity can be harmful in the workplace. In fact, many companies make the effort to keep their entire work environments static-proof. So how is something as simple as static electricity harmful? Read about how it can affect employee health and machine performance.

Are you looking to create a static-free work environment? Visit Bondline now for more information.

What is the meaning of ESD?

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) happens every day and anywhere, but it’s especially prevalent in the workplace. But before we delve into that, we should first understand what ESD is and how it can affect many industries and workplaces. Electrostatic discharge is where two electrically opposite charged objects would touch each other creating an electric current. ESD creates static electricity when properly discharged. When an ESD event happens in the presence of manufacturing of electronics, it can be extremely harmful as it slowly damages the components on the circuit board. And even though the damage is slow, the latent damage to the component will eventually lead to the component failing.

So what can you do to stop the damage from happening in the first place? It’s simple: ESD-proof your work area, every inch of it.

Bondline’s anti-static products prevent these types of situations from happening in your workplace. Although it might seem expensive, it’s a good investment in the long run.

What causes ESD?

To avoid ESD, you need to know what causes it in the first place. In general, people feel the effects of static electricity. Here are some examples of situations where static electricity can be present when humans are involved:

• When human skin and an insulator make contact.
• We generate so much of it that sometimes when we hold a doorknob or touch another person, we feel an electric shock.
• Insulators like plastic, rubber and nylon tend to gather negative charges anywhere. When used by employees frequently, friction tends to generate static electricity.

What can I do to prevent ESD?

First, we have to talk about grounding because it is one of the key components on how to discharge potentially charged Electrostatic objects. Grounding is where you let the electricity head straight to the ground, therefore, discharging the stored electrical current inside of your body. Being grounded discharges the electricity in your body. Objects like lightning rods also use this feature to diminish lighting from storms. They attract lightning strikes with their metal rod and it redirects lightning to the ground for it to be harmless to the buildings. Without grounding, electricity will go to the nearest object that allows electricity to travel which would affect your items such as gadgets or worse, you.

There is a way, however, for us to apply grounding effects in our workplaces with the help of Bondline’s products! You can read more about ESD here.

Grounding products

With innovative technology, grounding products are able to completely diminish the amount of static electricity that our body might gather. Bondline has a line of products that can help to ground your work area from ESD, these products include anti-static matting, anti-static wrist straps, ESD benches and so on. Bondline’s line of anti-static products is perfect for workplaces and offices. Bondline even has anti-static clothing for your employees to be wearing at all times. Bondline does this is by having conductors and special coatings on their products to minimise the risk of static electricity from damaging electronics.

Are you interested in ESD-safe products for your workplace?

Our company has the following equipment for you to browse:

ESD Matting

Carpet and rugs are some of the biggest collectors of static electricity due to their material and the frequency they come into contact with things like shoes and moving objects. With ESD floor matting, you can ensure that your employees are working in a static-safe area without the hassle of pulling out the existing flooring.

These anti-static mats can be placed in any work environment including an office and manufacturing facility where employees work with static sensitive equipment like circuits and cords.

ESD Flooring

Bondline provides top-quality anti-static flooring. ESD flooring allows you to either apply a layer to the existing floors or design your floors around your workplace to permanently have the anti-static feature. Bondline provides permanent ESD floor tiles, interlocking ESD floor tiles, ESD floor matting and ESD anti-fatigue matting. We also offer pre-sales, after-sales, including free floor audit, advice from experts, annual testing and calibration and full cleaning and aftercare services. A truly all-in-one experience with us!

ESD Wristbands

Otherwise known as antistatic or grounding bracelets, ESD wristbands are amazing pieces of equipment to provide your employees working with static-prone equipment. These are perfect pieces to wear in a workplace when working with ESD sensitive devices. Bondline has a range of antistatic wrist straps and ESD cords to suit a range of requirements. Coil cords and grounding leads are available to purchase, alongside premium, economy and disposable wrist straps.

ESD Chairs

Regular chairs are typically static prone due to their high-insulating materials. If you are to be handling static sensitive components, it is highly recommended that you use an ESD chair at your workstation. With ESD-safe chairs, static is prevented from generating and dissipating into the environment as the charge is grounded to Earth; protecting the static sensitive components that the operator may be working on from static charge and damage.

Are you looking for ESD-safe products and supplies? Visit Bondline today! Contact Bondline today to order now and to get your hands on the best anti-static products, fit for the workplace.