What is ESD? 

To understand the importance of ESD floors, it’s essential to first explain electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD refers to the sudden transfer of electrical charges that occurs when static electricity builds up on a surface or object, even a person. When these charges find a pathway to the ground or another unbalanced element, a discharge occurs.

A common example of ESD is the small shock you feel after walking across a carpet and touching a doorknob. While this may seem harmless in everyday life, in sensitive industrial environments, such discharges can lead to equipment damage or safety hazards.

When discussing ESD, it’s important to note that discharges are only possible if electrical charges accumulate in the first place. Both the accumulation of charges (measured in Volts) and the discharges (measured in Ohms for resistance) must be considered when designing solutions like antistatic flooring to effectively manage ESD risks.

What are the risks associated with ESD phenomena?

The risks associated with electrostatic discharge (ESD) can be broadly categorized into those affecting people and those impacting electronic devices. Managing ESD is important for ensuring safety in environments like ATEX zones, where flammable vapors, gases, powders, or liquids are present. In such settings, ESD flooring is essential to prevent sparks that could ignite fires or explosions.

In healthcare facilities, controlling ESD helps protect sensitive medical equipment such as MRI machines and scanners. Although the risk of explosions from anesthetic gases has diminished significantly in modern facilities, antistatic flooring remains important for minimizing dust accumulation, enhancing hygiene, and maintaining the safe operation of vital devices.

In industrial settings, ESD poses significant risks to electronic components. While humans typically feel ESD shocks starting at 3,000 volts, sensitive devices like printed circuit boards and semiconductors can be damaged by discharges as low as 100 volts—or even 10 volts. These discharges can result in immediate defects during production or create latent weaknesses that compromise performance or shorten the lifespan of the final product.

For example, in aerospace industries, a single ESD-damaged circuit board could lead to mission-critical failures, such as a satellite malfunctioning in orbit. By using electrostatic discharge flooring, businesses can effectively reduce these risks, ensuring safety for people and reliability for the devices they manufacture and operate.

How to Monitor the Performance of ESD Floors

Effectively managing electrostatic discharge (ESD) requires an approach that extends beyond flooring alone. A control plan should include grounding all equipment—such as workbenches, tools, and caster chairs—along with grounding personnel through personal protective equipment (PPE) like ESD shoes, wristbands, and gloves. Additional measures, such as ionizing workstations, staff training, and conducting regular audits, are essential to maintaining a safe and controlled environment.

ESD flooring is a critical component of this system but works effectively only when used in conjunction with other grounding solutions. For example, operators must wear ESD shoes to establish a proper connection between themselves and the floor, ensuring charges are safely dissipated. In this context, the ESD floor serves as the last line of defense, providing a reliable pathway for conducting and eliminating static charges.

By integrating ESD flooring with a well-rounded control strategy, industries can significantly reduce the risks associated with electrostatic discharge, protecting both people and sensitive equipment.

Two factors are measured according to ESD standards: 

Proper measurement of performance requires adherence to normative references and structured testing procedures. Organizations planning to establish an Electrostatic Discharge Protected Area (EPA) must first identify the standards most suitable for their environment. Several global standards govern these requirements, including EN 14041, IEC 61340, and ANSI ESD S20.20.

Gerflor’s experts are available to guide you in selecting the ideal flooring solution that complies with the applicable regulations for your organization.

ESD and antistatic floors, making the right choice

As previously mentioned, the choice of flooring solution will first be based on the ESD standard selected and adapted to your organization. However, the choice of flooring must also be guided by its use and installation conditions:

Subfloor conditions and installation

In the case of a new building project or renovation of an existing area, the quality of the subfloor and the ease of installation must be taken into account. This is to ensure a flooring choice that meets short and medium-term needs, as well as an installation time that shall not impact productivity in the case of installation in an occupied environment. For example, an ESD resin for a renovation will require production to stop during installation, while ESD tiles like GTI allow installation with co-activity and thus have a very low impact on productivity.

Traffic conditions

depending on the frequency, type of traffic (pedestrian and/or mechanical), and loads, the appropriate flooring must be chosen. For example, for pedestrian traffic, the use of manual electric pallet trucks, a homogeneous 2mm ESD PVC floor will be suitable. In the case of stronger constraints, the GTI EL5 tile solution will be preferred.

Resistance to cleaning and decontamination processes

by making a list of maintenance products or chemicals related to the process, the flooring must resist according to the concentrations used. Gerflor has developed for many years patented and innovative surface treatments that meet the constraints of industrialists regarding chemical resistance, both for tile and roll solutions.

Maintenance

It is important to consider the long-term life of the flooring in terms of ease of maintenance and repairability. Vinyl solutions allow quick repairs (hot welding for small repairs such as cuts or impacts) and easy replacement of areas to be renovated without interrupting production, unlike epoxy or polyurethane resins.

ESD and cleanroom

In controlled environments where ESD floors are a must (e.g., semiconductor manufacturing or pharmaceutical industries). The flooring must also meet additional requirements such as: control of particulate emissions according to ISO14644-1, control of biocontamination (bacteriostatic flooring), ease of decontamination, control of outgassing, etc. Gerflor, with its cleanroom experience, offers in its flooring ranges, both in tile and roll solutions, products certified by independent laboratories (Fraunhofer Institute for example) allowing their use safely in cleanrooms.

GERFLOR experts are here to guide you in your choice of ESD, antistatic floor coverings: industry@gerflor.com