Questions And Answers

None. The wrist strap cord must be attached to ground to remove electrostatic charges to ground.

“All personnel shall be bonded or electrically connected to ground or contrived ground when handling ESD sensitive items. When personnel are seated at ESD protective workstations, they shall be connected to the common point ground via a wrist strap system.” [ANSI/ESD S20.20 section 6.2.2.1 Personnel Grounding Requirement]

Personnel may also be grounded through use of a flooring and footwear system. This method is useful when personnel are mobile or standing in areas where wrist straps are not feasible and ESDS items must be handled or transported. The ground path is maintained through the use of dissipative or conductive floors and dissipative or conductive footwear. Flooring – footwear systems may be installed to provide a back-up personnel grounding system. When used as the primary personnel grounding system, the resistance to ground including the person, footwear and floor must be the same as specified for wrist straps (< 35 x 10 6 ohms) or the voltage accumulation on a person must be less than 100 volts. [Handbook ESD TR 20.20 section 5.2.3 Flooring - Footwear System]