What Are The Benefits Of Using ESD Flooring?

Selecting a flooring for your business can be overwhelming with many to choose from; especially when you need to consider the materials, industry standards and requirements. Anti static flooring is often a beneficial choice for industries such as healthcare, electronics and military locations.

Controls static discharge

The main purpose of ESD flooring is to help reduce possible electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD flooring is especially important within industries where static can cause interference or damage to employees and/or equipment. These can include: electronic and high tech areas, cleanrooms, operating theatres, classrooms and industrial areas.

Excellent for high-traffic/high-use networked environments

ESD flooring minimises static charge and provides additional protection against static damage.

Grounds people and products

ESD flooring ensures people and products are grounded in the static sensitive environment.

Durable

The majority of anti static floors are manufactured from hard-wearing and long-lasting materials such as rubber, tiles and vinyl.

Low maintenance

Both installation and care of ESD floors are generally extremely simple. Most ESD floors can often be placed over existing floors, interlock, and can be sealed easily with floor finish products. At Bondline, we offer the very best in pre-sales and after-sales service including a free floor audit, expert advice, full preparation and installation service, annual testing and calibration and a full cleaning and after-care service.

Easy to clean

An ESD floor requires specialised care when it comes to cleaning. If you do not clean or maintain your antistatic floor, you could compromise the ESD properties of the floor. This could lead to expensive replacement costs of the damaged electronics and the floor itself. In order for your floor to perform its best long-term you should use the appropriate floor treatments such as our ESD floor cleaner.

Click here to view our full range of ESD flooring materials.

When Should I Consider Using ESD Flooring?

ESD flooring is an essential grounding solution that many businesses’ use to prevent electrostatic discharge in their static safe environments. It is widely used for industrial static control since many items in these areas are sensitive to static therefore prevention methods are required. By grounding the charge, anti-static flooring prevents the ESD from building up and discharging into the environment; where it could be destructive to goods or dangerous to people. To dissipate static, or draw static charges away from people or objects, the floor in any static-sensitive environment must be grounded. For electronics manufacturing applications that require the use of ESD footwear it’s fine to use charge-generating flooring materials like conductive vinyl.

If you intend to carry electrostatic sensitive devices around with you within the EPA, you should consider using ESD flooring in conjunction with the appropriate ESD footwear or ESD heel grounders to ground any static charge. Antistatic flooring should be installed in high-traffic/high-use networked environments to minimise static charge and to provide additional protection against static damage. ESD flooring should be installed anywhere the threat of uncontrolled static electricity buildup and discharge is a concern and could jeopardise the performance and operation of electronics systems or the handling, assembly and repair of electronics.

Click here to view our full range of ESD flooring.

What Is An Electrostatic Protected Area (EPA)?

An Electrostatic Protected Area, also known as an EPA, is a designated area where static is controlled under strict regulations. A static safe handling area could be a bench, a room or any other designated area and should not have any ‘static field’ greater than 100v maximum. Within this designated area, all surfaces, objects, people and ESD Sensitive Devices (ESDs) are kept at the same electrical potential. All surfaces, products and people are bonded to Ground. Bonding means linking, usually through a resistance of between 1 and 10 meg ohms.

An EPA can be a small workstation or a large manufacturing area. These areas enable a safe environment for both operators and static-sensitive devices or components such as PCB boards that are prone to ESD damage. Equipment or products used within an EPA should qualify and comply to the IEC-61340-1-5 International Standard to ensure a safe, static-controlled environment. Everything that does not readily dissipate charge must be excluded from the EPA.

Essential EPA Equipment

When setting up your EPA consider using the following products:

Bench Top Ionizer, Continuous Monitor, Surface Resistivity Meter, ESD Tape, Worksurface Mats, Ground Cords, Overhead Ionizers, Shielding Bags, ESD Signs and Labels, Aisle Marking Tapes, ESD Floor Mats, Anti-Static Wrist Straps, ESD Foot Grounders, ESD Smocks, ESD Floor Maintenance and Anti-Static Binders and Sheet Protectors.

Typical ESD Workstation Set Up

At Bondline Electronics, we are a leading manufacturer and supplier of Static Control products within the ESD Industry. Bondline offers an extensive range of ESD products to help you set-up your Electrostatic Protected Area (EPA). Discover our range of anti static products by clicking here.

How Do I Care For My ESD Lab Coat and Lab Jacket?

To correctly maintain and clean your ESD smocks, you should wash the garment in warm or cool water, tumble dry with low heat (up to 60°C) or hang dry. We recommend to only use non-ionic softeners and detergents when laundering; do not use bleach to clean your clothes as this can erode the carbon threading.

The ESD lab coat’s and ESD lab jacket’s fabric is constructed using 65% polyester, 32% cotton and 3% conductive yarn.

The recommended washing guidance is a minimum of 60 industrial washes for an ESD lab coat and 50 industrial washes for an ESD lab jacket at a medium temperature. Size tolerance applies before washing. Washing can cause approximately 5% shrinkage for each garment, although this shouldn’t be noticeable or affect the static dissipative properties. Please note that the washing guidance can vary between each manufacturer. Reference washing ways GB12014-1989.

In addition, lab coats and jackets should not be altered in any way. The lab coats’ and jackets’ effectiveness is in fully covering the human body– particularly at the wrists and front of the body. Altering the lab coat or jacket in any way will reduce its effectiveness.

To discover why ESD Lab Coats and Jackets are essential for EPAs, click here.

To view our full range of ESD clothes, click here.

How Do I Care For An ESD Mat?

Since dirt can behave as an insulator, it is important to regularly clean ESD mats before testing / monitoring the resistivity. Accumulated flux and residue creates a barrier on an ESD table mat, which inhibits the mat’s ESD properties. This barrier, in effect, restricts the mat from being able to quickly dissipate the charge of the component or product being worked on. Cleaning will also ensure optimum electrical performance and, by regularly cleaning, you will maintain the original resistivity of the anti-static mat whilst extending its shelf-life.

For ESD mats, we recommend using our Staticide Mat and Table Top Cleaner for optimum results. This non-abrasive formula is safe to use on workstations, table tops and anti-static mats, including rubber and vinyl. It is the ideal cleaner for areas in which static-sensitive devices are assembled, tested, and handled, but can also be used in areas that require a mild but effective cleaner. Mat & Table Top Cleaner is a non-flammable cleaner that leaves no film or streaks. It effectively removes flux residues, oily finger-marks, grease, nicotine, dirt, grime and inorganic contaminants. It also removes dirt on chair mats and other antistatic mats without degrading the surface’s antistatic properties.

How To Use Staticide Mat and Table Top Cleaner:

1) Apply liberally to the areas to be cleaned.

2) Wait 2-3 minutes to allow emulsifiers to penetrate.

3) Then wipe it off.

NEVER use alcohol or silicone-based products to clean an ESD mat. Alcohol will dry out the mat, while silicone will create an insulating barrier. Ultimately, both alcohol and silicone will corrode the mat’s ESD properties.

View our full range of ESD cleaning products by clicking here.

How Do I Care For An ESD Floor?

An ESD floor requires specialised care when it comes to cleaning. If you do not clean or maintain your antistatic floor, you could compromise the ESD properties of the floor. This could lead to expensive replacement costs of the damaged electronics and the floor itself. In order for your floor to perform its best long-term, cleaning it regularly with an ESD floor cleaner is essential.

Our ESD floor cleaner is an excellent choice for removing contaminations of ESD flooring and eliminating static. Before using a floor cleaner, we recommend to brush/sweep your ESD floor with an ESD dustpan and broom to clear it of all sand, grit, debris, or dirt.

ESD dustpans and brushes are usually made from static-safe materials such as ESD Polypropylene. The Black PP is formulated from anti-static raw material with no additional coating, making it permanently ESD safe. Most dustpan and brooms are made from high static materials – these should not be used in an electrostatic protected area. To protect your EPA from ESD damage, use our anti-static dustpan and broom.

For ESD floor mats, we recommend using our KILLSTAT Floor Cleaner for optimum results. This cleaner is suitable for cleaning vinyl and rubber flooring materials. To remove water-based floor finishes, we recommend using our KILLSTAT Restorer/Cleaner. This is a non-toxic, bio-degradable solution which has been developed for cleaning ESD floors without affecting the ESD properties. Effective for cleaning any sealed or hard floor finish, lower the resistivity and return the floor to safe and proper specifications.

View our full range of ESD floor treatment products by clicking here.

How do I apply a disposable heel strap?

When applying a disposable heel strap, you should apply the strap within a static-controlled environment.

Step 1) Align the pressure-sensitive end of products with the front edge and centre of shoe heel.

Step 2) Peel the protective liner and mount the device. Press it firmly to the bottom of the heel.

Step 3) Wrap the contact ribbon of the heel grounder up the back of the shoe and lay it inside.

Step 4) Step into the shoe.

Step 5) Repeat steps one to four on the other shoe.

When wearing a heel strap, does the strap need to make direct contact with the skin?

When wearing heel straps/foot grounders in an ESD Protected Area, it is recommended that the conductive ribbon should make direct contact with the skin for maximum effectiveness. However, a conductive ribbon may be placed inside a wearer’s shoe underneath their sock to make electrical contact with the skin through perspiration. If the wearer chooses to place the ribbon underneath their sock, there are a few key factors you should consider. Socks can have varying material composition and thickness. Despite this, as long as the wearer’s feet are producing a sufficient sweat layer, it will make their socks conduct providing a conductive layer between each foot (skin) and grounding ribbon. Before handling electronic static-sensitive devices, ensure you allow enough time to develop a good layer of sweat in order to make the sock conductive enough to effectively bond the skin to the ribbon. You can check the continuity of the foot grounder via a footwear tester. If you would prefer to wear ESD shoes then please view our range here.

Why do I need a surface resistivity meter?

Surface resistivity meters are essential because they can check whether a surface is insulative, conductive or static-dissipative. They are used to measure surface resistivity and point-to-point resistance. It is vital that you regularly check your bench mat / floor mat with a surface resistivity meter to ensure it’s functioning correctly; if your matting is dirty, a surface resistivity meter can detect whether the surface has changed (usually from static-dissipative to insulative when the matting is dirty). Sometimes a dirty mat may not be clearly visible, so it’s best to check its surface before using it. View our surface resistivity meter here.

Do I need to clean my bench mat?

Yes, it is imperative to clean your bench mat regularly with an ESD bench mat cleaner. If your bench mat is dirty, your bench mat will become insulative which will generate static charges and transfer these charges to any static-sensitive device it comes into contact with. To check if your bench mat is dirty, we recommend using a Surface Resistivity Meter before using your mat to check its functionality. View our range of cleaning products by clicking here.