Is taking ESD precaution necessary?
By LearnESD.com Team

Is taking precaution necessary? The answer to this question is Yes and No.
It all depends on who you are and where you are.

Static electricity easily builds up when there are two materials come into contact and separate. The amount of static electricity build up on our body intensifies in a drier climate especially during the winter.

Many industries practised Static control program to safe guard the sensitive components and products that they use and make.
Million of dollars are spent to buy the protective equipments and materials that to provide protection for their products e.g. mats, air ionizers, wrist strap, smock etc.

In an established organisation, taking precaution is necessary. Organisations have the system in place that make sure every one of its employees is following the pre-set static control rules.

At home, some computer veteran or specialist may omit the precaution when they open up or repair their computers. They are aware of static electricity build up and they know the need to discharge them by either frequently touching the metal chassis of the computer or any grounded metal part around them. They hold the computer boards by their edges and they wear cotton clothing during working with them. For many years they do not encounter any problems with their computers and which make them believe there is no need to take any precaution.

In an actual fact they actually do take precaution without their knowledge. But the kind of precaution that they take is different from the one being practised in most organisations whereby employees are required to wear wrist strap, having air ionizer at work bench, use anti static floor mat etc.

As technology moves forwards, many of the electronic devices are now getting smaller and consuming less power which makes them more susceptible to damage.
The electronic devices can be damaged by static electricity as little as 20 volts.
Human can only feel the static shock when there is a minimum of 3000 volts of static electricity.
The electronic devices actually receive the static shock when our fingers make contact with the metal pins or any uncoated metal traces on the printed circuit boards. As little as 20 volts of static electricity, we are not aware that we have actually wounded or killed the sensitive devices.

When the electronic device receives multiple static shocks through our handling, the electronic devices are weaken and partially damaged and over the time, intermittent failures, data loss and other nuisance problems will pop up now and then which will then lead to eventual failure.

As humans tend to forget at one time or another, it is always encouraged to take a minimum precaution when working with computer boards in home.

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