Auditing the ESD program

(Updated Dec. 2017)

The 61340-5-1&2 documents are designed for use with quality systems such as ISO9000. The requirements of 61340-5-1 should be treated as mandatory, while 61340-5-2 can be considered recommendations or guidance.

The approach of the 61340-5-1 and 20:20 standards are that key requirements are to write an ESD Program Plan, ESD Training Plan, ESD Control Product Qualification Plan and Compliance Verification Plan. The user must write these in compliance with the standard according to the needs of their activities, facility and processes. So, two different organisations may have very different ESD Program requirements documented in their ESD Program Plans.

There are two steps to auditing the ESD Program. First the Plans must be checked for compliance with the standard. Secondly, ESD control in the facility must be checked against the Plans.

Compliance Verification Plan

The compliance Verification Plan is intended to check that the requirements of the ESD Program are met.

This Plan must specify

• The items to be measured and verified

• Measurement limits

• Test methods used (normally the standard test methods

• How often they will be tested

Every ESD control item that is specified in the ESD Program Plan must be tested in the Compliance Verification Plan. For equipment and items (such as floors, worksurfaces or chairs) that are specified by the standard, the test methods should be those given in the standard and equipment pass criteria should be within the limits specified in the standard. Test methods may be used that differ from those given in the standard, but evidence must be provided that the results correlate with the reference standards.

For items that are not specified by the standard (such as gloves or tools) the user must specify their own test methods and pass criteria.

Records must be kept to provide evidence of compliance with the technical requirements of the ESD Program.

Typical Compliance Verification checks

Everything documented in the ESD Program Plan must be checked regularly. It is up to the user to define the checking intervals.

Personal grounding is a primary ESD prevention measure, so it is usually considered important to check conformance of wrist straps and their ground cords (as worn), and heel & toe straps or ESD shoes daily before entering the EPA.

Other equipment can be checked periodically according to expected reliability and experience. For example, a floor in a clean area which has been demonstrated to give stable performance over a number of years may only need checking annually. A floor which is likely to become contaminated or worn, or has unknown electrical stability, might need to be checked monthly or more frequently.

Periodic audit

Periodic audit is usually performed annually and should cover all requirements of the ESD Program including documentation and records.