Professional Production Industries Workbench ESD Fire Proof Work
Desk
ESD Workbench C6013002
An ESD workbench is one of the central elements within a full ESD
protected area for use within an electronics manufacturing or
repair facility. It is necessary that the ESD workbench is able to
provide a full protected environment for any electronics assemblies
that require work on the ESD workbench. Accordingly its performance
is critical within the overall facility.
The ESD workbench can be seen to consist of a number of different
elements:
- Static dissipative work surface: The primary element of any ESD work bench is the static
dissipative work surface.
- Shelves: As static can build up anywhere on a work bench, it is essential
that all elements of the bench are static dissipative. As items,
either electronics assemblies, or tools may be placed here the
shelves need to be part of the ESD protected area. Also if tools
are placed on a non-ESD dissipative surface, attract static, and
then they are used to work on an electronics assembly, then damage
could result.
- Metalwork: While the metalwork itself is conductive, the paint used is not
normally conductive. For an ESD workbench it is necessary to use
static dissipative paint to prevent any sudden discharges.
- Cupboards: Many work benches have cupboards attached to them as an integral
element for tidy storage. In view of the fact that electronics
assemblies or other items such as tools for working on the
assemblies may be stored in these cupboards, it is essential that
the cupboard conforms to the same ESD standards as all other areas.
Shelves should have static dissipative surfaces and any painted
metalwork should have a static dissipative paint finish.
- ESD wrist straps: When working at an ESD work bench, it is necessary to ensure that
the operator is also held at the same potential so that no
discharges occur. ESD wrist straps are generally used for this.
- Wiring: It is necessary to ensure that all static dissipative surfaces,
wrist straps, etc are all connected to a common grounding point,
and wired in a suitable manner. It is essential that this is
achieved effectively and in the correct manner from the viewpoint
of electrical safety.
- Monitoring system: With wires such as the connections to ESD wrist straps, etc being
in almost constant use there will be periodic failures. One method
that has been adopted is to test ESD wrist straps and their wires
each day. However when a problem is detected, it is possible that
the operator has been causing damage to assemblies since the last
time the ESD wrist strap was tested. To overcome this problem,
continuous monitoring systems are available which are considerably
more satisfactory. These are typically incorporated into the ESD
work bench assembly.
* Please contact us for more details about ESD Workbenches.