Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 20: The Pitfalls of ESD Flooring Selection: How to Avoid Flooring Failure (Part 1) is overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts #20: The Pitfalls of ESD Flooring Selection

How to Avoid Flooring Failure (Part 1)

Three fundamental mistakes account for a majority of ESD flooring failures: selecting the wrong floor for the application: failure to consider total cost of ownership; failing to test the floor after it’s been installed. Avoiding these mistakes helps ensure success. This first of a two-part series on avoiding ESD flooring failures explains why it’s important to select a floor based on the specific application and details the primary considerations that should be taken into account: assessing the type of footwear people will wear in the space and considering goals and objectives, including how the space will be used.

The Gist: The Pitfalls of ESD Flooring Selection: How to Avoid Flooring Failure (Part 1)

Avoiding 3 fundamental problems will help ensure a successful ESD flooring installation

  • Incorrect pairing of flooring product and application
    • Choosing the wrong floor for the space
  • Failing to consider cost of ownership
    • Forgetting to account for maintenance & repair
  • Failing to test the floor after it’s been installed
    • Necessary to establish a baseline

Podcast Part 1: Incorrect pairing

    • When people walk on the floor, the contact and separation between their shoe soles and the floor surface generates static, which builds on their body;
    • What type of footwear will people wear in the space?
      • In electronics manufacturing applications, everyone walking in the space is required to wear special ESD -protected footwear.
        • For these applications, footwear needs to be tested in conjunction with the floor to be sure they work together
      • In end-user spaces, people wear regular street shoes – will the floor still prevent static?
        • These floors need to be low static-generating
        • Some conductive floors – e.g. vinyl and epoxy – still generate static
      • Also take the environmental, ergonomic and other objectives into account
        • Does the floor need to be durable – e.g. used with forklifts?
        • Can the floor have seams?
        • What are the ergonomic considerations?
        • Do you need sound attenuation?
        • What other considerations do you need to account for in the space?

“There are actually a lot of things that can go wrong with an ESD floor, but I think there are probably three main fundamentals that, if you can avoid those fundamental problems, you can end up with a successful project. “

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Rick: Welcome to Static Bursts. Our podcast series will discuss the threat static electricity poses to your business, and how to address those risks.

Dave: I’m your host, Dave Long, founder and president of Staticworx. We make static control flooring.

Rick: And I’m your co-host, Rick Frauton.

Dave, could you tell our listeners about some of the potential pitfalls or common mistakes that are made when choosing and installing an ESD floor?

Dave: There are actually a lot of things that can go wrong with an ESD floor, but I think there are probably three main fundamentals that, if you can avoid those fundamental problems, you can end up with a successful project. So very quickly, I’m just going to tell you what the three of them are and then we’ll break them down. So the first one is the wrong pairing of the ESD flooring product to the application. So by that I mean choosing a type of floor whether it’s an epoxy floor, carpet floor, vinyl, rubber and using it in an application or a space where it’s just not the right choice.

The second biggest mistake is not taking into consideration cost of ownership. And a big cost of ownership is the maintenance that will go on and the repairs that will happen over time. That’s a little bit complicated because some products last for a certain amount of time, and then they begin to deteriorate due to the activity that’s going on in the space. We’ll talk about both maintenance and repairs and the longevity of a floor. We’re going to talk about all of them from the perspective of Total Cost of Ownership.

Then the third mistake that many, many companies make, and I’ll actually give you some examples, because we run into these all the time, is people fail to test the floor immediately after it’s installed. And that can lead to all sorts of problems because now you don’t have a baseline.

So let’s go back to the first mistake, the wrong pairing of the product to the application. Let’s suppose you’re the specifier. Maybe you’re a designer, or maybe you’re an engineer that’s been hired by a company to help them choose the right floor. The very first thing you need to think about is, am I looking for this floor to reduce static electricity on people when they wear regular footwear? So what I’m saying is some floors are used in applications where part of the protocols of that space involve putting on special footwear. So for example, the electronics assembly industry, all employees who touch electronic products that they’re manufacturing, wear what are called heel straps, or ESD shoes. That’s part of the controls that are in place in that factory. And in fact, those special footwear protocols are mandated so that when an employee arrives at the workspace, they put the special footwear on and before they are allowed entry to the manufacturing area, they have to touch a button on a footwear tester. And they get either a red light or green light that either approves or disapproves of their going any further out onto the manufacturing floor.

So some floors only work with special footwear. So it’s not that there’s anything wrong with those floors but they are made to ground a human being who was wearing some kind of conductive materials on their shoe so that the human being is electrically bonded from their own body through their shoe. In this case, a conductive shoe, to the floor. A lot of these types of floors don’t prevent static electricity on a person, if they’re just wearing regular shoes. So an easy way for me to tell you this is you walk out onto the floor with a pair of athletic shoes on and you don’t put on these special heel straps. Even if the floor is conductive and verified as conductive by someone who’s tested it, if you walk on that conductive floor and it happens to be either vinyl or a epoxy you’re going to generate a lot of static electricity. It’s not because the floor doesn’t have conductivity. It’s because the floor is not a low-generating material.

So when you’re looking at pairing a floor with an application, you have to ask yourself, what type of footwear will people be wearing in my space. So, for example, in a 9-1-1 call center, the people who work there, they wear regular shoes that can be anything from dress shoes to work boots to maybe, in some cases, they kick their shoes off while they’re sitting at their position. So a floor in a 9-1-1 call center has to be a very low-generating material, because while the person is working, they’re going to be walking around with static-generating footwear.

On the flip side of it, an electronics assembly facility, they wouldn’t worry as much about the generation of static electricity, because they’re going to require the person to wear certain types of footwear. However, when you qualify the floor for the electronics manufacturing and assembly operation you need to test it to make sure that the footwear choices that you will be using in that space, work with that floor. We covered that in a previous podcast. But if you’re interested in knowing more about that, we have an article that was published by In Compliance Magazine called “Qualifying ESD Floors.” And we’ll get into that topic fairly deeply so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it here.

Rick: So one consideration when selecting an ESD flooring material is the type of footwear worn by the people who will be working in the space. The resulting static charge generated by the repeated contact and separation of those two materials as people move through the space is a very important factor to be aware of. What other factors come into play when matching flooring material to a customer’s application?

Dave: So when you’re looking at applications, the first thing you need to think about is what type of footwear will people be wearing. And then there’s the more obvious application choices -durability. You’re not going to put carpet in a warehouse. But maybe in your warehouse, you need ESD flooring. Obviously, you’re going to put something in that warehouse that’s going to stand up to pallet jacks and forklifts and all the durability issues that you might have.

If it’s a clean room, you’re going to be installing flooring that in some cases can’t have any seams. So maybe you’re looking at a coating, maybe you’re looking at rubber ESD sheet flooring that can be seam-welded and cove-based up the walls so that you do not have any opportunity for particulate to collect.

So when we think about application and pairing floors, we’ve got epoxy, vinyl, rubber, paint, ESD wax and ESD carpet. Your concern and your space might involve ergonomics. So you might like the idea of using a hard surface floor in a call center because you know it’s very easy to keep it clean. But in a call center one of the more important aspects to the tasks that people perform is the ability to be aware and be helpful to the person on the other end of the communication. If it’s a 9-1-1 call center, the dispatcher needs to have complete understanding of the person they’re talking to, because that could be a matter of life or death. So in those spaces, they like the idea of the floor attenuating sound. So they may be more interested in ESD carpet tiles than they’re interested in ESD epoxy because they need the space to have some ability to absorb noise. So the takeaway here is, think carefully about the space and how many different factors the floor could physically contribute to its longevity, but also to making the tasks easier for the people working in that space.

Rick: Today we discussed the importance of matching ESD flooring material to the type of work performed in the space. This is one of three fundamental categories of mistakes that are commonly made in the selection process. In our next episode, we continue this conversation by discussing the importance of the Total Cost of Ownership, which should include any downtime associated with the installation process, as well as why post-installation compliance testing should never be overlooked.

Dave: We hope you learned something today. If you have questions about the podcast, give us a call at 617-923-2000. Even though we specialize in solving problems with flooring, if you have a question about static discharge, how to install a floor, how to test the floor, we’ll be glad to help you. Thanks for listening.

Rick: Welcome to Static Bursts. Our podcast series will discuss the threat static electricity poses to your business, and how to address those risks.

Dave: I’m your host, Dave Long, founder and president of Staticworx. We make static control flooring.

Rick: And I’m your co-host, Rick Frauton.

Dave, could you tell our listeners about some of the potential pitfalls or common mistakes that are made when choosing and installing an ESD floor?

Dave: There are actually a lot of things that can go wrong with an ESD floor, but I think there are probably three main fundamentals that, if you can avoid those fundamental problems, you can end up with a successful project. So very quickly, I’m just going to tell you what the three of them are and then we’ll break them down. So the first one is the wrong pairing of the ESD flooring product to the application. So by that I mean choosing a type of floor whether it’s an epoxy floor, carpet floor, vinyl, rubber and using it in an application or a space where it’s just not the right choice.

The second biggest mistake is not taking into consideration cost of ownership. And a big cost of ownership is the maintenance that will go on and the repairs that will happen over time. That’s a little bit complicated because some products last for a certain amount of time, and then they begin to deteriorate due to the activity that’s going on in the space. We’ll talk about both maintenance and repairs and the longevity of a floor. We’re going to talk about all of them from the perspective of Total Cost of Ownership.

Then the third mistake that many, many companies make, and I’ll actually give you some examples, because we run into these all the time, is people fail to test the floor immediately after it’s installed. And that can lead to all sorts of problems because now you don’t have a baseline.

So let’s go back to the first mistake, the wrong pairing of the product to the application. Let’s suppose you’re the specifier. Maybe you’re a designer, or maybe you’re an engineer that’s been hired by a company to help them choose the right floor. The very first thing you need to think about is, am I looking for this floor to reduce static electricity on people when they wear regular footwear? So what I’m saying is some floors are used in applications where part of the protocols of that space involve putting on special footwear. So for example, the electronics assembly industry, all employees who touch electronic products that they’re manufacturing, wear what are called heel straps, or ESD shoes. That’s part of the controls that are in place in that factory. And in fact, those special footwear protocols are mandated so that when an employee arrives at the workspace, they put the special footwear on and before they are allowed entry to the manufacturing area, they have to touch a button on a footwear tester. And they get either a red light or green light that either approves or disapproves of their going any further out onto the manufacturing floor.

So some floors only work with special footwear. So it’s not that there’s anything wrong with those floors but they are made to ground a human being who was wearing some kind of conductive materials on their shoe so that the human being is electrically bonded from their own body through their shoe. In this case, a conductive shoe, to the floor. A lot of these types of floors don’t prevent static electricity on a person, if they’re just wearing regular shoes. So an easy way for me to tell you this is you walk out onto the floor with a pair of athletic shoes on and you don’t put on these special heel straps. Even if the floor is conductive and verified as conductive by someone who’s tested it, if you walk on that conductive floor and it happens to be either vinyl or a epoxy you’re going to generate a lot of static electricity. It’s not because the floor doesn’t have conductivity. It’s because the floor is not a low-generating material.

So when you’re looking at pairing a floor with an application, you have to ask yourself, what type of footwear will people be wearing in my space. So, for example, in a 9-1-1 call center, the people who work there, they wear regular shoes that can be anything from dress shoes to work boots to maybe, in some cases, they kick their shoes off while they’re sitting at their position. So a floor in a 9-1-1 call center has to be a very low-generating material, because while the person is working, they’re going to be walking around with static-generating footwear.

On the flip side of it, an electronics assembly facility, they wouldn’t worry as much about the generation of static electricity, because they’re going to require the person to wear certain types of footwear. However, when you qualify the floor for the electronics manufacturing and assembly operation you need to test it to make sure that the footwear choices that you will be using in that space, work with that floor. We covered that in a previous podcast. But if you’re interested in knowing more about that, we have an article that was published by In Compliance Magazine called “Qualifying ESD Floors.” And we’ll get into that topic fairly deeply so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it here.

Rick: So one consideration when selecting an ESD flooring material is the type of footwear worn by the people who will be working in the space. The resulting static charge generated by the repeated contact and separation of those two materials as people move through the space is a very important factor to be aware of. What other factors come into play when matching flooring material to a customer’s application?

Dave: So when you’re looking at applications, the first thing you need to think about is what type of footwear will people be wearing. And then there’s the more obvious application choices -durability. You’re not going to put carpet in a warehouse. But maybe in your warehouse, you need ESD flooring. Obviously, you’re going to put something in that warehouse that’s going to stand up to pallet jacks and forklifts and all the durability issues that you might have.

If it’s a clean room, you’re going to be installing flooring that in some cases can’t have any seams. So maybe you’re looking at a coating, maybe you’re looking at rubber ESD sheet flooring that can be seam-welded and cove-based up the walls so that you do not have any opportunity for particulate to collect.

So when we think about application and pairing floors, we’ve got epoxy, vinyl, rubber, paint, ESD wax and ESD carpet. Your concern and your space might involve ergonomics. So you might like the idea of using a hard surface floor in a call center because you know it’s very easy to keep it clean. But in a call center one of the more important aspects to the tasks that people perform is the ability to be aware and be helpful to the person on the other end of the communication. If it’s a 9-1-1 call center, the dispatcher needs to have complete understanding of the person they’re talking to, because that could be a matter of life or death. So in those spaces, they like the idea of the floor attenuating sound. So they may be more interested in ESD carpet tiles than they’re interested in ESD epoxy because they need the space to have some ability to absorb noise. So the takeaway here is, think carefully about the space and how many different factors the floor could physically contribute to its longevity, but also to making the tasks easier for the people working in that space.

Rick: Today we discussed the importance of matching ESD flooring material to the type of work performed in the space. This is one of three fundamental categories of mistakes that are commonly made in the selection process. In our next episode, we continue this conversation by discussing the importance of the Total Cost of Ownership, which should include any downtime associated with the installation process, as well as why post-installation compliance testing should never be overlooked.

Dave: We hope you learned something today. If you have questions about the podcast, give us a call at 617-923-2000. Even though we specialize in solving problems with flooring, if you have a question about static discharge, how to install a floor, how to test the floor, we’ll be glad to help you. Thanks for listening.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 14: How Adhesives Impact the Cost of ESD Flooring Installations are overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts (Ep #14): How Adhesives Impact the Cost of ESD Flooring Installations

Three types of conductive adhesives are typically used to install ESD floors: epoxy, acrylic, and pressure-sensitive. Each adhesive has advantages and disadvantages. Dave explains the differences, details pros and cons, and discusses why – and in what circumstances – one adhesive might be preferable over another. The fourth option is to choose a glue-free installation, such as interlocking ESD tiles. Interlocking tiles are chemical-free, have no fumes or mess, and can be installed in a functional workspace without disrupting operations.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 15: The Importance of Qualifying ESD Flooring are overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts (Ep. #15): The Importance of Qualifying ESD Flooring

Properly qualifying an ESD floor requires more than testing for electrical resistance. We used to believe that the conductivity of a floor predicted its potential for static charge generation. We now know that resistance and charge generation are independent qualities: one does not relate to the other. A floor can be conductive and still generate static electricity. We also know that flooring materials perform differently with different types of footwear. In this episode, Dave and Rick discuss why it’s important to test the floor as part of an integrated ESD flooring/footwear system – and to test for both conductivity and charge generation.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 16: ESD Chairs: A Bridge Between Two Perfect Methods of Grounding are overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts (Ep #16): ESD Chairs: A Bridge Between Two Perfect Methods of Grounding

In this episode, Dave and Rick explain how ESD chairs work and why they act as a bridge between two perfect methods of grounding (an ESD floor and wrist strap). The ESD floor grounds and prevents charge generation while people walk. Once the person sits and lifts his or her feet, they are no longer grounded. There may be a wrist strap at the work station, but until the person puts it on they’re a live wire. If they touch a component – or expensive prototype, for example – before putting on the wrist strap, any charge on their body will transfer to the component. ESD chairs ground the person in the chair, prevent charge generation and protecting against random ESD events.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 17: Replacing a Failing Floor Without Losing Production Time is overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts (Ep #17): Case Study – Replacing a Failing Floor Without Losing Production Time

StaticWorx was asked to evaluate a failing floor in an electronics manufacturing facility. After a fire the client had purchased a new ESD vinyl tile floor. Three months into the installation the floor was already lifting. In addition to unmitigated vapor, the building had been built using tilt-up construction. Silicone bond-breakers - sprayed on the concrete to keep the wall slabs from adhering to the subfloor - contaminated the concrete, preventing the tile from adhering properly. As the building was operational and the client wanted to avoid shutdown, Dave recommended interlocking ESD vinyl tile. StaticWorx installed a 10’ x 10’ test patch. Two months later, the interlocking floor was intact. StaticWorx covered the entire floor in the operational facility with interlocking vinyl tile - without the client’s losing a day of production.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 18: ESD Flooring Selection (Part 1) is overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts #18: ESD Flooring Selection (Part 1)

Most people looking to purchase an ESD floor are starting at ground zero, with little knowledge about the product. In this two part series, Dave and Rick discuss the key criteria for selecting an ESD floor. Part one covers the application (environment and work performed in the space); aesthetics; installation methods; and maintenance requirements.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 19: ESD Flooring Selection (Part 2) is overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts #19: ESD Flooring Selection (Part 2)

When choosing an ESD floor, it’s important to consider all the variables related to your specific application. Will you roll heavy loads on the floor? Do you need noise attenuation, anti-fatigue characteristics, or reflectivity? How long do you plan to stay in the building? When evaluating options, remember that the cost per square foot is only one part of the total cost of owning the floor. Installation, labor, maintenance, operational downtime add up – in the short term as well as over time.

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Against a dark blue background, the podcast title 'Static Bursts' appears in white at the top of the image, with an orange and white stopwatch icon between the two words. A lightning spark appears at the right hand side of the image with a cascade of sparks radiating out across the rest of the image. The podcast title Episode 21: Installing ESD Flooring: Avoiding Pitfalls (Part 2) is overlaid in white and a dark blue semi-opaque square covering the middle of the image. The company name and logo Staticworx appears in orange (first half) and white (second half) at the bottom.

Static Bursts #21: Installing ESD Flooring: Avoiding Pitfalls (Part 2)

The cost of flooring materials is only part of the total cost of ownership. To calculate the long-term cost of owning a floor, consider installation, maintenance, repairs, and downtime required for maintenance and repair. Aesthetics are another consideration. this podcast, Dave and Rick describe scenarios that occur when people base flooring decisions solely on the cost of the material. Dave also explains why it’s crucial to test an ESD floor immediately after it’s been installed.

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Background graphic is a still from the StaticWorx GroundSafe ESD Flooring – Your Trusted Partner explainer animation. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue with the StaticWorx logo and "GroundSafe ESD Flooring" underneath in white. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: “GroundWorx ESD Flooring – Your Trusted Partner”
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StaticWorx high-performance static-control floors protect electronic components, explosives, and high-speed computers from damage caused by static electricity. ESD flooring is part of a system. Choices should always be based on objective, researched evidence. When you partner with us, we look at all possible items that may need to integrate with the floor, and, focusing on your goals and objectives, help you find the right floor for your application.