Questions And Answers

All conductors including people should be grounded in the ESD protected area. At some point, typically the electrical mains, the all should be bonded together so all will be at the same electrostatic voltage potential level which should approach zero.

Machines should be connected to C ground. People should be grounded via a wrist strap when seated and, if mobile, a flooring/footwear system should be used.

“Within an EPA, the AC equipment ground is the preferred ground when available. The equipment grounding conductor electrically bonds the AC equipment ground to the ground bus at the main service equipment panel of the facility. AC equipment within the EPA and all of the ESD technical elements will be at or near the same electrical potential when this system is used.” [Grounding ANSI/ESD S6.1 section 5.1.1 AC Equipment Ground]

“Grounding / Equipotential Bonding Systems shall be used to ensure that ESDS items, personnel and any other conductors (e.g., mobile equipment) are at the same electrical potential. An implementing process shall be selected from Table 1.” [ANSI/ESDS20.20 section 8.1]

“When personnel are seated at ESD protective workstations, they shall be connected to the grounding / equipotential bonding system via a wrist strap system.” [ANSI/ESDS20.20-2007 section 8.2]

Flooring-Footwear System

“For standing operations, personnel shall be grounded via a wrist strap system or by a flooring/footwear system. [ANSI/ESDS20.20 section 8.2]

“The impedance of the equipment grounding conductor from a receptacle (power outlet used for establishing the AC equipment ground) to the neutral bond at the main service equipment panel shall not be greater than 1 ohm. The hot, neutral, and equipment grounding conductor shall be verified to be in the proper wiring orientation in accordance with the National Electric Code (ANSIINFPA-70).” [Grounding ANSI/ESD S6.1 section 6.3.1 Equipment Grounding Conductor]