ANSI/ESD S6.

1-1999

for the Protection of Electrostatic

Discharge Susceptible Items-

Grounding
Recommended Practice

Electrostatic Discharge Association

7900 Turin Road, Bldg 3
Rome, NY 13440-2069

An American National Standard

Approved January 10, 2001
 ANSI/ESD-S6.1-1999
Reaffirmation and redesignation of
ANSI/EOS/ESD-S6.1-1991

ESD Association Standard

for protection of electrostatic
discharge susceptible items

Grounding
Recommended Practice

Approved May 16, 1999

ESD Association, Inc.

 ESD Association standards and publications are designed to serve the public
interest by eliminating misunderstandings between manufacturers and
Caution purchasers, facilitating the interchangeability and improvement of products and
Notice assisting the purchaser in selecting and obtaining the proper product for his
particular needs. The existence of such standards and publications shall not in
any respect preclude any member or non-member of the Association from
manufacturing or selling products not conforming to such standards and
publications. Nor shall the fact that a standard or publication is published by the
Association preclude its voluntary use by non-members of the Association
whether the document is to be used either domestically or internationally.
Recommended standards and publications are adopted by the ESD Association
in accordance with the ANSI Patent policy.

Interpretation of ESD Association Standards: The interpretation of standards in-

so-far as it may relate to a specific product or manufacturer is a proper matter
for the individual company concern and cannot be undertaken by any person
acting for the ESD Association. The ESD Association Standards Chairman may
make comments limited to an explanation or clarification of the technical
language or provisions in a standard, but not related to its application to specific
products and manufacturers. No other person is authorized to comment on
behalf of the ESD Association on any ESD Association Standard.

Published by:

Electrostatic Discharge Association

7900 Turin Road, Building 3
Rome, NY 13440-2069

Copyright 2000 by ESD Association

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, in

an electronic retrieval system or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 1-58537-019-3
 (This foreword is not part of ESD Association Standard S6.1-1999)

Foreword
The grounding of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protective equipment is used to reduce the
chance of damage to susceptible parts and assemblies resulting from ESD. The need throughout
the electronics industry for a well defined standard for the connection of ESD protective
equipment to ground is recognized.

The protection of ESD susceptible items is accomplished by providing a path to bring static
dissipative materials, conductive materials, and personnel to the same electrical potential. This
standard provides guidance and procedures that establish an effective path to ground. The
standard has been limited to ground for ESD caused electrical overstress (EOS).

There is one annex in this standard. Annex A is informative and not considered part of this
standard.

This standard was orginally approved on September 24, 1991 and was designated EOS/ESD-
S6.1-1991 and this document is a reaffirmed version of the original. This standard was
processed and approved for reaffirmatio by the ESD Association Standards Committee
(STDCOM). At the time of the approval of the original standard the S6.0 Grounding
Subcommittee had the following members:
Bob Parr - Chairman Harry Jolliff, Secretary
Motorola GEG TRW

Lawrence Burich Raymond Kallman Dale Tucker

Lockheed Pilgrim Electric Flexco

Melissa Feeney Mel Kamenir Ed Weggeland

TAOS International ITT Avionics Static Prevention

Charles E. Gerdel Stephen Koehn Joel Weidendorf

Sacramento Army Depot 3M IBM

Steven Gerken Adrienne Kudlish Anthony Wind, Jr.

US Air Force Digital Equipment Wind Enterprises

Don Hyman Charles Miller (Alt) John Winn

Storage Technology US Air Force JES International

The following made significant contributions to the development of this document.

Harold K. Aronson James Horvat Harley Richardson

Work Surfaces Corporation US Air Force (Original Secretary) AT&T

Les Avery Whitson Kirk Jeffrey Scanlon

Sarnoff Corporation Allied-Signal, Inc. American Systems

Godfrey (Ben) Baumgartner Howard Myers David Swenson

Lockheed Motorola 3M

Michael T. Brandt Arvid Peterson Roy Walker

Marketing Resources, Ltd. ECOS Electronics SAR

Stephen Halperin Arizona Chapter North Central Chapter

SH&A ESD Association ESD Association

i
Table of Contents

1. SCOPE 1
1.1 Protection of grounding 1
1.2 Purpose 1
1.3 Applicability 1
1.4 Personnel safety 1
2. NORMATIVE REFERENCES 1

3. DEFINITIONS OF T ERMS 1

4. T ECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 4
4.1 General 4
4.2 ESD measurement reference point 5
4.3 Vehicles 5
4.4 Electrical requirements 5
4.4.1 Criteria 5
4.4.2 Equipment required 5
4.5 Mechanical requirements 6
5. T EST PROCEDURES 6
5.1 Procedures 6
5.1.1 Receptacle wiring verification 6
5.1.2 ESD protected station grounding tests 6

Table of Figures
Figure 1 Typical barrier strip 2
Figure 2 Typical bus bar 3
Figure 3 Typical protective station grounding system 4
Figure 4 Isolated ground receptacle 5
Figure 5 Main(s) service equipment 6
Figure 6 Typical ground connection and main(s) service equipment 7
Figure 7 Example of a common point ground resistance measurement 7

Annex
A. Bibliography 9

ii
ESD Association Standard
ESD Association Standard Test Method
for the Protection of Electrostatic
Discharge Susceptible Items -
Grounding
Recommended Practice
1 Scope
1.1 Protection by grounding
Protection of electrostatic discharge (ESD)
susceptible items is accomplished by providing
a path to bring static dissipative materials,
conductive materials and personnel to the same
electrical potential (i.e. to ground).
1.2 Purpose
This document recommends the parameters,
procedures and types of materials needed to
establish an ESD grounding system for the
protection of electronic hardware from damage
due to ESD. This grounding system is used for
personnel grounding devices, work surfaces,
chairs, carts, floors and other related equipment.
1. 3 Applicability
Electrically initiated explosive devices are
excluded from these requirements. Grounding
methods and materials specified herein may or
may not provide adequate grounding for
frequencies greater than 400 Hertz.
1.4 Personnel Safety
The Procedures and equipment described in this
document may expose personnel to hazardous
electrical conditions. Users of this document
are responsible for selecting equipment that
complies with applicable laws, regulatory codes
and both external and internal policy. Users are
cautioned that this document cannot replace or
supersede any requirements for personnel
safety.
Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) and
other safety protection should be considered
wherever personnel might come into contact
with electrical sources.
ESD-S6.1-1999
Electrical hazard reduction practices should be
exercised and proper grounding instructions for
equipment must be followed.
2 Normative references
The following documents contain provisions
which, through reference in this text, constitute
provisions of this ESD Association Standard. At
the time of publication, the editions indicated
were valid. All documents are subject to revision,
and parties to agreements based on this ESD
Association Standard are encouraged to
investigate the possibility of applying the most
recent editions of the documents indicated below.
1
EOS/ESD-ADV1.0, Glossary of Terms
ANSI/NFPA 70-1990, National Electrical Code2
ANSI/IEEE Std 142-1991, IEEE Green Book3
(IEEE Recommended Practice for Grounding of
Industrial and Commercial Power Systems)
3 Definitions of terms
The following definitions shall apply for the
purposes of this document in addition to those
specified in EOS/ESD ADV1.0, Glossary of
Terms:
auxiliary ground: A separate supplemental
grounding conductor for use other than general
equipment grounding.
barrier strip: A device or apparatus that
consists of a metal strip and connectors or screws
that allow termination and connection of wires or
conductors from various components of an ESD
protected station. (See figure 1 also see Bus
bar)
1
ESD Association, 7900 Turin Road, Bldg 3, Rome, NY 13440,
315-339-6937
2
National Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, P.O.
Box 9101, Quincy, MA 02269-9101
3
IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-
1331
1
ESD-S6.1-1999

2
ESD-S6.1-1999

3
ESD-S6.1-1999

4
ESD-S6.1-1999

5
ESD-S6.1-1999

6
ESD-S6.1-1999

7
ESD-S6.1-1999

8
 ESD-S6.1-1999

Annex A
(Informative)

Bibliography

1
ESD S1.1, Personnel Grounding Wrist Straps

ESD S4.1 ESD Standard for Protection of Electrostatic Susceptible Items Worksurfaces
1
Resistive Characterization

1
ESD Association, 7900 Turin Road, Bldg 3, Rome, NY 13440