As such, in the telecommunications world, electrostatic discharge is a much more harmful issue. With both in-use cabinets controlling telecommunications switching and spare plugs stored in the building, a little zap—or even the possibility of static—can mean a lot of wasted equipment and money.
According to many organizations’ rules and operational guidelines, if a plug or cabinet holding that plug is “improperly stored," that asset must be considered defective, and in turn unusable or unfit to be kept as a working spare. Guidelines differ, but improper storage with regard to ESD can include:
According to Alden Quality Assurance expert Suzanne Knott, “We see stacks and stacks of plugs in storage cabinets that they consider “good," and they are probably not due to improper storage.” Beyond equipment-focused precautions, there is also a human element to protecting assets from electrostatic discharge. “If you really follow the guidelines, you will notice that before you even touch one of those plugs, you are supposed to have an electrostatic discharge grounding strap on your wrist and sometimes on your feet before you even get close to the equipment.”
This is a serious “better safe than sorry” situation. Some large blades—plugs with dozens of circuit boards—can cost between $20,000 and $40,000 each, and while one benefit of a thorough inventory is to retire assets from a company’s books through weeding out items that are not useful, losing large amounts of assets due to improper storage is not acceptable.
The solution? Maintain a safe distance between stored plugs to mitigate the risk of static arcs from one cabinet to the next. Wrap and pack plugs in approved anti-static materials, and keep in mind the human aspect of the equation. ESD gloves, footwear and wrist straps are readily available and easy to use by technicians.
An ohm of prevention is worth a powerful pound of cure.