Workplace Safety

ESD 101: Everything You Need to Know About ESD Mats, Flooring & ESD Work Surfaces

Brought To You by Wearwell | Posted Jan 03, 2022
Read time: 
4:30 Minutes

Static electricity can produce damaging sparks that can ruin expensive equipment. ESD mats, flooring and ESD work surfaces eliminate static while providing an ergonomic work surface.

Static electricity can produce damaging sparks that can ruin and destroy expensive equipment. ESD mats, flooring and ESD work surfaces eliminate static while providing an ergonomic work surface for your team to perform.

#1 Grounding Equipment for Floor Mats & Table Mats

The most important but often overlooked aspect of ESD matting is the way they are grounded. There are different methods based on if your ESD mat is on the floor or on a table or desk.

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ESD Floor Mats requires heel grounders (793-Heel) for the user(s) to wear or conductive shoes and a grounding cord (793-Cord) for the floor mats. (See section #2 for more information)
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ESD Mats for Tables require a wrist grounding cord (793-wrist) for the user and a grounding cord (793-Cord) for on the ESD table mat.

Two users can be grounded with the low profile common grounding cord (797-Cord). Each user will need to wear their own wrist grounding cord (793-wrist).

The key thing to realize is that when grounding floor mats, they require all mats to be grounded with a cord. (Learn more about grounding in section #4).

The below video gives an example of how to ground an ESD workstation table mat.

#2 Which ESD Mat is right for you?

ESD Matting comes in a variety of styles to meet the unique needs of your workplace. Some are designed to cover large areas quickly while others are used for smaller workstations.  Read this blog in its entirety to find a list of products and their applications to meet your needs.

#3 Dissipative or Conductive

ESD mats can either be dissipative or conductive. To decide which one you need, determine if the flow of static electricity that you deal with in your line of work has a high resistance or a low resistance. Conductive matting should be used in areas where static prevention is a priority. Wearwell has several conductive matting options available.

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#4 Grounding Your ESD Mat

The grounding method for your mat depends on if your matting is dissipative or conductive. Below is a chart of how to ground each. Note that conductive matting requires each tile to be grounded with a grounding cable whereas dissipative matting only needs every 1-4 tiles to be grounded with a grounding cable. Both methods require the users to wear a heel grounder.

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#5 The Benefits of Anti-Fatigue Flooring & Matting

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When you choose the right ergonomic surface you reduce the stress on your bones, joints and muscles. Concrete is by far the worst surface to stand and work on for prolonged periods of time with no relief.

Matting can reduce the heel strike impact by an extra 35%. 

Companies see a 50% improvement in health benefits by reducing injuries like sciatica, shin splints, varicose veins, plantar fasciitis and other musculoskeletal disorders. Taking away the distraction of aches and pains allows your team to focus on the task at hand.  The result is better performance and increased productivity.

A 2.2% increase in productivity is significant. Based on a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks a year, that’s an extra 45 hours of productivity per employee.

Previously Featured on Wearwell's blog.

Talk to Us!

 Need pricing on ESD mat. 49 feet x 60 feet

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Need pricing on ESD Mat 40 x 60 feet

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Hi Rick, You can get pricing on a 40 x 60 ESD Mat by calling MSC's Customer Service Team at 800.645.7270. 

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Good afternoon,

If I have ESD work benches and I have anti static matting with dissipative layer on the top conductive scrim in the centre and cushion dissipative foam in the bottom, will this stop the matting from working as it is on a anti-static surface?

thanks Joanne

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Founded nearly 70 years ago by two World War II veterans, Wearwell is a U.S.-based global manufacturer with sales operations throughout North America, South America and Europe. At our core, Wearwell designs and manufactures flooring and matting solutions that improve the bottom line and performance of our customers. We work to eliminate slips and falls, reduce absenteeism, improve productivity, heighten morale, and enhance the aesthetics in the workplace. Stand Strong with Wearwell!

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