ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) is a growing problem in this electronic age. A simple touch from a person in a non-static controlled environment can damage an electrical component with charges up to 35,000 volts of electricity. To combat this, static control solutions are needed.

Taking care of static generated on the floor is a key place to start any ESD control program. Static starts to build on people as they walk around. As more and more companies are relying on their employees to be more mobile due to the changing work requirements and space issues, static control needs to start from the floor up. This increases the effectiveness of other static control devices, such as the wrist strap, by fighting static at the source.

So how does your company stack up? Does your floor provide proper grounding for mobile employees, equipment and visitors? By answering the following "self test" questions, you can evaluate your company based on your needs and requirements for ESD floor protection.

So, what steps can be taken to help reduce this problem of static generation? ESD Floor protection can help stop this problem. Depending on your existing floor, it may be possible to easily gain ESD protection from existing vinyl, concrete, sealed floor surfaces and carpeting with little investment. This is where ESD floor finish comes in.

Good ESD floor finishes will provide the ability to ground mobile personnel and eliminate the static charges generated by walking across the floor. They are easy to apply and are easily plugged into an existing floor finish program. Ninety percent of the cost of maintaining a floor is labor, changing your current floor finish to a good ESD floor finish (at about the cost of $0.02 more per square foot (sqft). in material cost) will give an ESD safe and grounded floor. There are several ESD finishes out on the market today. To help you select the right ESD finish for you, here are some tips and questions you can ask:

• Is it a wax or a polymer finish? A Polymer cross-liked finish will last much longer than an uncross-linked finish or a Wax based finish.
• What are the % solids of the finish? A finish with at least 18% solids will give you good coverage thereby reducing your time and labor costs.
• How is the slip resistance? If UL has independently tested and approved the product (look for the UL mark).
• How the finish’s electrical and durability properties stand up at humidity extremes (10% humidity is low and 70% is high). Some ESD finishes will soften as the humidity increases wearing the finish down requiring frequent maintenance and reducing electrical properties.

No-zinc finishes are great finishes for companies that have policy or are environmentally reducing their companies waste discharge of metals that are found in shampoo, cleaners and finishes. With non-zinc floor finishes you will typically sacrifice gloss and durability as the elimination of the zinc cross linker. A quality no-zinc finish will minimize these sacrifices. The tips mentioned above also apply for no-zinc finishes.

Good quality floor finish will remain in service from 3 months to 6 months depending on floor traffic, type and frequency. In one years time for high traffic you could expect to use 6 coats in total, three initial coats plus three individual coats every three months. For low traffic areas, you could expect 4 coats total in one year, three initial coats and one single coat after six months. Periodic testing will always tell you how the ESD floor finish is performing electrically and if it needs maintenance. As the finish wears away, the resistance will increase depending on the thickness of the finish on the floor.

Grounding a floor finish is easy. Some finishes may not require grounding depending on the square footage covered (see below). Finish and or paints can be grounded by connecting a ground wire, flat wire or copper strip from a grounded outlet (connect to the center screw or to the box itself) running the wire down the wall and extended enough to get good contact to the floor. It can be bolted, screwed or adhered to the floor or to a plate that in turn is bolted or adhered to the floor. Look to get 2+ square inches of contact from the wire, copper pad or flat wire that is bolted to the floor. This surface is then finished over to connect it and ground to the floor finish. This may be needed every 20’ along the perimeter or as RTG (resistance to ground) readings indicate. Some finishes are able to drain a 5000 volt charge to zero in less that .1 seconds (per FTMS 101C method 4046) and not require actual hard ground points. These finishes usually require at least a square footage of 50 or greater.

How do you know if floor finish is right for you? Depending on your existing floor, you may be able to gain ESD protection by using floor finish on your floors to allow you to properly ground your employees and equipment. If you are choosing vinyl tile, concrete, or carpeting, you should consider ESD floor finish as an option. These floor materials, and their applications, are illustrated here:

Vinyl tiles, commonly referred to as VC tile (vinyl composite tile), and comes in 1-foot square tiles that are installed directly on concrete or sub flooring. These tiles are large static generators and need to be finished with a good protective ESD floor finish to fight static generation.

If your vinyl tile is an ESD tile, you may still want to finish it with a good protective ESD finish. ESD tile companies have discouraged the use of ESD floor finish primarily because they have marketed the tiles as not requiring an ESD finish. It turns out that an ESD vinyl tile left bare will become scratched and stained over time. This is fine if the appearance of the floor is not a concern but if you are looking for a nice glossy floor the ESD tile needs a protective ESD finish on top. Floor tiles without a protective finish tend to become scratched and dull due to floor traffic. ESD floor finish helps prevents this. It is just a whole lot easier to maintain a floor finish than to sand or bleach out scratches and stains on tile. Good quality Floor finishes will remain in service for 3 to 6 months depending on floor traffic, type and frequency. In one years time for high traffic you could expect to use 6 coats in total, three initial coats plus one individual coat every three months. For Low traffic areas, you could expect 4 coats total in one year, three initial coats and one single coat after six months.

If you have concrete floor that is in good shape you have the option of applying an ESD finish to its surface to provide an ESD safe floor. Floor finish can be applied right onto a concrete surface as long as its clean, dry and level. Concrete may be sealed prior to applying of a floor finish to fill in the surface pores and gain more coverage of the floor finish. For concrete with moisture concerns, a sealer with moisture barrier properties will protect the surface adhesion of a paint or finish from separating due to moisture. Painting the concrete is also an option and can provide a uniform color in addition to sealing the porous surface and increasing the coverage of the floor finish. Good quality Floor finishes will remain in service for 3 to 6 months depending on floor traffic, type and frequency. In one years time for high traffic you could expect to use 6 coats in total, three initial coats plus one individual coat every three months. For Low traffic areas, you could expect 4 coats total in one year, three initial coats and one single coat after six months.

Carpeting is another flooring material that creates large static charges on the people and objects that move across it. Carpets can be treated with a spray-on 50/50 mixture of 18% solid polymer based ESD finish and water. This treatment will adhere to the carpet fibers and give it static dissipative as well as non-triboelectric properties. Even carpets that are rated as anti-static can be treated to bring their high resistance range (> 10¹¹ ohms) down below 10⁹ ohms. Carpets by nature are more difficult to clean and keep clean. The spray treatment can be done after the carpet has been cleaned or vacuumed, two or three times as needed, each time letting it dry for an hour or letting it sit overnight. This treatment will wear due to traffic and cleaning cycles and may require reapplying every three to six months depending on traffic type and frequency. Testing can be done with an ohmmeter using 5lb probes to verify its resistance.

Conclusion: As we look at all the different floor types, floor finish makes a great solution to controlling the static charge generation.