The importance of anti-static work clothes
There is a very common misunderstanding that if someone wears a wrist strap, they do not need to wear anti-static overalls (ESD overalls, ESD shirts, ESD jackets, etc.). The operator mistakenly believed that the static electricity generated on people and their clothes would be discharged through the wrist strap. Today’s article will explain the importance of anti-static work clothes and why they should be considered an ESD protection area (EPA).
The purpose of anti-static work clothes The main reason people wear anti-static work clothes is to shield their insulating clothes and minimize the electric field generated by the clothes. As we have previously known, insulators that are essential for all processes should be kept at least 12 inches away from items that are susceptible to ESD. Garment fabrics, especially those made of synthetic fibers, are an important charge generator. Non-ESD clothing fabric is an isolated electrically-charged insulator and cannot be grounded. The resulting charge will threaten ESD control. Insulators (such as clothes) will not allow the charge to flow and maintain the charge until it is neutralized naturally over time (hours or days) or an air ionizer is used (artificially within a few seconds). Before the charge is eliminated, your clothes may have a voltage of thousands of volts, which may suddenly discharge and damage nearby electrostatic sensitive items. ESD standards do not require ESD work clothes, but they are a very practical solution to minimize ESD events caused by human clothes. ESD work clothes may be an important step in demonstrating commitment to ESD control procedures.
The clothing is to weaken the electrostatic field that may exist on the clothing of the personnel. The susceptibility of the processed ESD items that require ESD control is usually used to determine whether ESD protective clothing is needed. Although a wrist strap or other grounding method can be used to ground a person, this does not mean that the insulated clothing fabric can spread the charge to the person’s skin and then ground it. Work clothes are usually electrically isolated or isolated from the human body.