surfaces - flooring
“Next, the charge hits a conductive primer that has been filled with carbon to ensure a very-low level of resistance. “And, finally, the charge goes into a copper tape buried under the floor coating which is connected to a safe earthing point.” He adds: “It’s important to bear in mind that this is an ideal scenario and in practise there may be fewer, or more, steps.
“For example, it is possible to create a floor that removes static charge without using copper tape, however it won’t be as conductive as a floor that does.”
One thing that the floor definitely needs, though, is the earthing point, without this the floor cannot be considered anti static, as charges that go into it will simply build up. “In practise an earthing point is usually a highly-conductive metal rod driven deep into the building’s slab. Other options could include using the building’s steel beams or a plug socket”, Potter advises. Typically, one earthing point per 200sq m should be sufficient, but the exact requirements need to be
Anti-static floors work by incorporating specialist conductive materials that take away any charge a person has built up
specified by an electrical engineer to ensure the resistance measurements are appropriate. “To determine if the floor is up to the task at hand, its electrical resistance should be tested at each stage of the application”, said Potter. The BS EN 61340-5-1 standard includes a method for determining the resistance of a floor through point-to- point conductivity testing. The result of this will determine whether the material can be categorised as conductive, dissipative, or insulative.
The full picture Offering advice to specifiers, Potter said: “When testing the floor, it is best to move the contact points around to ensure that a footprint-sized space has been checked, as this is the practical
contact area through which any charge held by a person will be transferred. “Making sure that a floor finish meets
a site’s anti-static needs requires an understanding of the location’s operational activity, how the floor build- up works to remove this threat, as well as the role that other factors, such as testing and personnel clothing, play. “To get a full picture of all of these factors and how they interact, it is important to talk through the flooring specification and materials with the manufacturer and contractor to ensure the final coating will provide the required standard of conductivity.” Flowcrete UK has recently published an eBook that goes into more detail on anti-static flooring, which can be downloaded from its website.
www.flowcrete.co.uk healthcaredm.co.uk 39
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