ESD Standards

In 1999, the ESD Association has approved and published a standard covering the development of an ESD control program. Approved as an ANSI standard, ANSI/ESD S20.20: Development of an Electrostatic Discharge Control Program. The standard covers the requirements necessary to design, establish, implement, and maintain an ESD control program to protect electrical or electronic parts, assemblies and equipment susceptible to ESD damage from Human Body Model (HBM) discharges greater than or equal to 100 volts.

ANSI/ESD 20.20 has both administrative and technical provisions that can be tailored to specific applications or requirements. The administrative sections cover development of an ESD Control Program Plan, Training Plan, and Compliance Verification Plan (routine audits.) The technical elements have some "hard" requirements, but include many options for compliance that will allow users to develop and implement a plan for their application that is technically adequate and cost effective. The technical requirements cover areas such as grounding, personal grounding, protected areas, packaging, labeling, equipment, and handling. The technical requirements and technical range recommendations are listed in Table 1. The ANSI/ESD S20.20 is the parent document for all ESD Association standards and will be the main reference for Auditing an ESD Control Program. ANSI/ESD S20.20 standard is intended to replace MIL-STD 1686 and ANSI/EIA-625 ESD Control Standards. The United States Department of Defense has adopted ANSI/ESD S20.20.
The ESD Association is dedicated to advancing the theory and practice of ESD avoidance.

Click HERE to go to the ESD Association web site. On the right side are some standards available at no charge under "Key Downloads", including:
  • The ESD Program Standard ANSI/ESD S20.20
  • ANSI/ESD S541 Packaging Materials for ESD Sensitive Items
  • Glossary of Terms ESD ADV1.0

The ESD Association sells most of its standards. For a list of these and how to order, click "Standards" on the left column of the ESDA.org home page.

The ESD Association has approved the following registrars as qualified to audit and certify a facility�s ESD control program being in compliance to ANSI/ESD S20.20:

ESD Association S20.20 Certified Registrars