ZAP: Managing Electro-Static Discharge

By Art@Smalldog.com

At Small Dog we have chosen to become more ESD compliant this year. In doing some research and gathering quotes, I came across a website where the topic is explained in a reasonably easy to follow format.

“There are 4 basic guidelines to an effective ESD Program:
Ground all personnel who handle static sensitive product.
Static sensitive items should, when unpackaged, sit on a grounded surface with a resistance to ground between 1×10/6th and 1×10/9th.
Keep insulators at least 12” away from unpackaged static sensitive products.
Utilize proper packaging and material handling systems.

Here’s a copy of the ESD Association standard, S20.20. If you are required to have an ESD program, this document will help to implement the program:

http://www.esda.org/documents/s2020std.pdf

Do you know the device sensitivity of the products? I am including a link from our website that helps to determine the level of device sensitivity:

http://www.esdsystems.com/whitepapers/wp_devicesandstatic.html

Many thanks to Darnell at ESD Systems who helped me to find this important information.