ESD Control Procedure

ESD Protected Area (EPA)

Venture Research Inc. has a declared ESD Protected Area or EPA that is used for any manufacturing process that requires a board or other ESD sensitive object to be handled or unprotected by an enclosure or sealed anti-static bag including but not limited to assembly, programming, and testing. This area is located on the north side of the Manufacturing Facility, demarcated by a yellow floor line stating “CAUTION ESD AREA” and yellow crowd control line reading “ESD PROTECTED AREA”. Posted signs also state “EPA” and list requirements for entering.

EPA Entrance Requirements

The following are rules must be followed for entering the VR EPA. Any issues that prevent a rule from being followed need to be reported to Micki McCutcheon immediately

• Wear fully closed ESD Smock (provided at entrance)
• Wear grounding wirst strap and test at least daily (sign posted sheet)
• Wear grounding heal strap and test at least daily (sign posted sheet)
• Do not bring in any non-essential insulators, if you are ever in doubt if any item is an insulator or not contact Micki McCutcheon
• Do not exit with any item that is a board or contains a board that is not protected in an enclosure or sealed anti-static bag
• Always plug your wrist strap into a grounded contact point when working at a station
• When plugging your wrist strap into a Continuous Monitor, ensure the LED indicator is green and no alarm sounds while completing work (if the LED is not green or an alarm sounds and you are not able to correct it by checking your wrist strap, notify Micki McCutcheon immediately
• Use only provided/approved tools in EPA and EPA Workstations, if you are ever in doubt if any item is approved or not contact Micki McCutcheon

ESD Requirements outside of EPA

If there is an item that needs to be handled outside of the VR EPA (for lamination due to chemical used or rework on a large finished assembly) the following must be followed as a minimum

• Wear fully closed ESD Smock (provided at entrance of EPA)
• Wear grounding wrist strap and test at least daily (sign posted sheet at EPA)
• Ground any cart used in the transport of ESD sensitive items
• Ground any large assembly that will have an ESD sensitive item removed, replace, added, or worked on

ESD Control Training	ESD Awareness Guide