Jim Britt asked:

>Can anyone assist me in other manufacturing companies' requirements for ESD
>protection.
>
>For example, hair length and hats (cotton or other).
>
>Thanks,
>Jim Britt
>Honeywell
>Military Avionics

Oh no, I hear the dreaded ESD police coming...

You didn't mention:

nylon underpants
polymer-loaded fingernail polish
plastic false teeth
non-metallic jewelry
plastic buttons

and worst of all, the non-conductive zipper, potentially capable of
mega-zaps akin to lightening (I always ground myself before unzipping).

I rue the day when I will have to dress in a cotton nightshirt and be hosed
down in the entry to the production area while being bombarded with charged
ions. It must be a miracle my TV set still works with that nylon carpet in
my house.

(fear and loathing mode off)

Seriously, what's wrong with grounded table mats (checked monthly), floor
treatment, humidity (40-65% RH) control, wrist and heel straps - checked
weekly. Laminated metallized bags for all the boards past soldering and
cleaning. All solder irons have grounded tips and conductive handpieces.
Ban all untreated plastic containers and bags. That's what we do. I figure
going much beyond that is a violation of privacy and a waste of effort.

Of course there are situations where a clean room and/or tightly controlled
ESD policy may be really necessary, but I still remember that when I was in
a college co-op program they tried to make one student in my dorm cut his
hair. He quit GM rather than do it, and he just happened to be the only
person in the US to make a perfect score on the college board advanced math
achievement test that year. He could look at the answers in the back of the
calculus book and tell you which ones were wrong in 10 seconds. But then
why would Buick want a long-haired genius working in car design?

You might have some good techs and operators who would take offense at a
policy which made little sense to them.

If a policy affects people, it should have some tolerance, and it should be
logically related to proven problems, not hearsay or some magazine article.


cheers,


Jerry Cupples
Interphase Corporation
Dallas TX

p.s. my hair measures 78 mm max, how many volts is that? Sorry, I just
can't resist making fun of the ESD police, apologies/due regret someday...
;-)