How do you decide whether or not you need to install ESD flooring? S20.20 in table 3 lists footwear/flooring as a control item, but we know that these are recommended items and if chosen then specific rules apply as to qualification and compliance verification.
How involved are you in the selection process, or do you often get notified after the fact that a floor has been installed? Do you (or have you) installed a floor as a safety net and if so why?
Just wondering what others are thinking. One of my business units just spent a ton of money installing a floor and then sent me an email basically stating “do we have to test this thing?” The email was the first that I had even heard they were thinking about a floor.
Matt,
I think the biggest reason to choose a footwear/flooring system is the desire for mobility within an EPA without having to continually put your ESDS items in ESD safe packaging to go from one area to another. It also allows handling of the ESDS items in a standing position without using a wrist strap. The biggest downside of a footwear/flooring system is the cost both to initially purchase/install, but also the continual compliance verification costs.
I too have had the same issue of not being informed that an ESD floor had already been purchased and was in the process of being installed. I think the only way around this would be to get to know the person in charge of facilities at your company and make sure they know to consult you or the ESD subject matter expert before deciding whether an ESD flooring/footwear system is appropriate as well as which type to get. Thanks
MattS, the requirement in S20.20 is not a floor/footwear system but to ground personnel. A footwear/flooring system is one way of acomplishing that. Another way is with a wrist strap system. Which way is very dependent on how the process is defined. Either way works. Both ways have pros and cons associated with them.
If a footwear/flooring system is selected by you (or for you in some cases) then the standards that apply are STM 7.1 (floor resistance) STM 9.1 (Footwear resistance), STM 97.1 (Person-footwear-flooring resistance) and STM 97.1 (Body voltage measurements).
Compliance verificaiton is defined in ESD TR53.
