When we think about health and safety in the workplace, static electricity is not discussed often enough. Indeed, it is a hidden danger that needs more discussion and attention.
To most people, static electricity is a small nuisance that might give them a little shock when they touch something or someone. You may also have experienced it damaging electrical goods in your home.
Static electricity differs significantly from other commonly known electromagnetic forms of electricity. It poses potential dangers, requiring careful safeguards against its risks. However, with correct management, static electricity can be beneficial in some use cases.
It’s important to note that static electricity can pose a threat in almost any workplace, but most commonly in the manufacturing, production and processing industries. Due to its invisible nature, risk assessments of workplaces often miss static electricity and can pose a serious threat if not identified and managed accordingly.
In this article, you’ll learn about the dangers static electricity can pose in the workplace and why it must be correctly managed, aside from ensuring the safety of employees. Read on to find out about static electricity, what it is, how it poses a risk to employees and how to effectively deal with static electricity in the workplace.
What Is Static Electricity, and when does it happen?
Static electricity forms as a result of an imbalance between positive and negative charges on the surface of objects. This build-up of electric charge is known as static electricity.
This phenomenon occurs when two materials rub against each other, causing electrons to transfer: for example, when people walk on carpets or handle certain materials like plastics or synthetic fabrics. When a material or item holds a net electrical charge — positive or negative — it is considered to have a static charge.
The static charge reduces over time. The speed of static reduction is dependent on the material: for example, plastic can hold an electrical charge much longer than metal.
The rate of charge generation can be impacted by several factors, including:
- Material Type: For static buildup, it is essential to have two dissimilar materials in contact, with the conductive properties of these materials influencing the intensity of the static buildup.
- Presence of Impurities: If dust and unexpected ions exist within the materials, it can influence static buildup.
- Speed of Separation: When materials separate quickly, it’s harder for electrons to return to their original place. This leads to more static charge buildup.
- Velocity: The motion between surfaces contributes to charge buildup, enlarging the contact surface area. This increased surface area enables the irregularities on both surfaces to touch. Fast production lines with intense contact often experience static charges.
- Interfacial Surface Between Objects: The increased surface area and the heat generated by friction aid electron relocation. The larger the contact area between objects, the greater the migration of electrons between materials.
- Humidity: The presence of moisture increases charge leakage through the air surrounding the charged object, diminishing buildup. In drier atmospheres, the static charge tends to be more pronounced.
It’s important to consider the factors that impact the levels of static electricity when considering the level of danger that static electricity can pose to the workplace. Understanding the causes can support the management of static electricity within the workplace.
The Dangers of Static Electricity in the Workplace
Static electricity can cause shocks or damage sensitive equipment like computers.
Many years ago, static electricity wasn’t such an issue in the workplace because many manufacturing processes did not involve the same materials and friction as today’s processes.
In today’s factories, we use a vast array of materials and encounter varying levels of heat and humidity. Additionally, there are numerous repetitive actions, such as friction and separation, happening regularly. This combination has resulted in modern workplaces becoming hotspots for the buildup of static electricity.
Shocks
The most commonly observed danger associated with static electricity is the shock experienced when a material has an electrical charge. In the workplace, this shock can be significantly greater than any shock you receive from a blanket at home and poses a personnel safety hazard.
In an industrial environment, like a factory or work floor, the electrical shock built up can quite easily become dangerous for workers. For example, a person operating machinery is at high risk from any static electrical charge buildup.
Once they touch an earthed object, they could potentially receive a severe electric shock, causing injury or even death.
Fire and Explosion Risk
Static electricity can ignite flammable materials or vapours through a process called electrostatic discharge (ESD), leading to fires or explosions, particularly in environments with combustible substances such as fuels, solvents, or gases.
The static electricity build-up can cause a spark which provides the necessary energy to ignite the flammable material or vapour, leading to combustion or explosion if the concentration of the flammable substance is within its explosive range.
Static discharges can also generate localised heat, which further increases the likelihood of ignition when in contact with flammable materials or vapours.
Damage to Electronic Equipment
Static discharges can damage sensitive electronic equipment, causing malfunctions, data loss, or complete failure. Not only can this result in costly repairs or downtime, but the damaged equipment poses an additional health risk to personnel.
When static electricity interferes with manufacturing processes by causing materials to cling together, jamming machinery, or disrupting production lines, this leads to delays, inefficiencies, or product defects.
Product Contamination
We discussed earlier how static electricity can be influenced by foreign particles. However, static electricity can also attract and accumulate dust, particles, or other contaminants.
This leads to product contamination in manufacturing or cleanroom environments, which can compromise product quality or safety and is key in workplaces where sterility is vital such as in healthcare settings, the handling of surgical instruments, medical devices, and pharmaceutical products.
Environmental Hazards
In some workplaces, static electricity buildup can contribute to environmental hazards, such as the release of pollutants or chemicals due to equipment malfunction or discharge events.
Personnel Health Risks
Prolonged exposure to static electricity or repeated shocks may cause discomfort, stress, or even health issues in some individuals, such as increased anxiety or potential effects on the nervous system.
How to Avoid the Dangers of Static Electricity
There is now plenty of specialised equipment that can be easily applied to control static electricity in most workplaces. Static elimination ionising bars and charging equipment are very successful at helping workers avoid the dangers of static electricity. There are also a number of cleaning systems from Ziegener and Frick that can be used with moving webs and 3D parts to eliminate the dangers of static electricity further.
In environments where flammable substances are present, precautions such as bonding and grounding of equipment, proper ventilation, and the use of anti-static materials or protective measures are essential to prevent static electricity-related ignition hazards.
Final Thoughts
As our manufacturing processes continue to develop, the need for proper static removal and cleaning is becoming more important in safeguarding workers. The effective removal of static electricity in the workplace not only improves the productivity of our machinery but can also help reduce the risk to workers.
eStat Solutions has extensive knowledge of a broad range of manufacturing processes and so can offer the most appropriate static solutions. We have a comprehensive range of solutions, including ATEX products, anti-static guns, nozzles, Simco-Ion IQ Platform, web cleaning, ESD products, static meters and measurement equipment, anti-static ionising bars, power units, perforation detection and static charging equipment.