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We all know
those painful discharges. You run across the room, shake hands with
someone and suddenly, a small current-like connection happens, a
solid electric shock hits you and you recoil your hand immediately.
On such occasions, the electrostatic discharges are usually harmless.
However, in some professions these mini-shocks can have severe
consequences.
What is ESD
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) is a spark or current created by
the potential differences in an electrically isolated material,
which causes a very short but highly charged electrical impulse. The
potential differences are mostly generated by friction electricity.
How is electrostatic charge generated
Friction electricity arises
even when you walk or run e.g. on a carpeted floor; a human being
can get charged up to 20.000 V. Movement on a chair can also
generate charge, just as tool or equipment handles made of synthetic
material can cause electrostatic potential differences that damage
sensitive machine parts.
The consequences
The schock reactions to such
electrostatic discharges are, by themselves, dangerous. However,
discharges in fire-prone places are far more dangerous. In such
places, discharges can start a fire.
It is not only the handling of inflammable liquids and gases that is
highly dangerous. Workspaces where paper and foil or transparancies
are used or processed and places with very high dust accummulation (e.g.
foodgrain mills) are also at high risk.
Electrostatic
discharges can also cause damage to microelectronic components,
since in relation to the mass, the energy of a static discharge acts
at half the power of the energy generated by a streak of lightning
on a tree.
Sensitive
sensors in certain production units can also suffer damage from
electrostatic discharge.
Protection from electrostatic charge
ESD-resistant clothing protects you from getting charged.
Only special ESD shoes can ensure active discharging of the current
tension.
Every worker
or employee wearing ESD shoes, gets earthed and discharged.
The
discharging of the wearer mostly takes place via the soles of the
feet, provided they are placed in a flexible in-sole having
current-conductiong properties, a leather sole and shoe soles made
of materials having current-condting properties.
If this chain
is broken, for example, by introducing an orthopaedic in-sole
without current-conducting properties, the ESD protection will no
longer work.
Even the use
of an in-sole without current-conducting properties purchased from a
shoe shop, can limit the effectiveness of the ESD shoe.
This ESD
complete process, guaranteed and protected by STABILUS, always
ensures optimum discharge, regardless of which in-soles the wearer
uses.
Safety
requirements at workplaces are constantly on the rise. Where
obsolete tools were used yesterday, there are sensitive machines and
sophisticated production sites today. In such places, ESD shoes will
offer active protection and safety.
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